MIROCALS: what’s next?

As we shared previously, the results of the MIROCALS trial, investigating the impact of a low dose of interleukin-2 in people with MND, were published in The Lancet at the end of last week. We published a blog explaining the results. As we said in our statement, we asked the UK MND Clinical Studies Group (CSG) to discuss the findings, and share their advice and guidance before we decided on our next steps

The CSG has now published its statement which you can read here.  

In summary, the CSG, made up of leading neurologists and researchers, reached the consensus that while the drug might improve life expectancy for those with slower progressing MND, more data is needed to confirm this. They have recommended this needs to come either from a phase 3 trial - likely led by the pharmaceutical company - or from a funded early access scheme.

The CSG also addressed questions previously asked by the MND community about the impact of results on access to low dose interleukin-2 saying that, because the results don’t provide a definitive answer, there is no realistic prospect of it becoming available on the NHS at the moment.

We are grateful to the CSG for prioritising these discussions and providing clarity in terms of a concise overview of the results and next steps.

As a charity, we are committed to working with the CSG, and with My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and MND Scotland, to explore those next steps as quickly as possible.

Together we have reached out to ILTOO Pharma, the pharmaceutical company which has the commercial agreement to use the trial data, asking for a meeting to discuss the results, future data gathering and the company’s plans. We will do everything we can to help move this work forward.

Our focus remains on doing everything we can to ensure people with MND have equitable access to proven treatments as quickly as possible.

We will keep you updated.