3 March 2026 News
Latest results of the trial of the drug amantadine have been released by the team at MND-SMART. Unfortunately the drug did not slow the progression of MND so the trial of this drug will be halted.
Amantadine is the third drug being tested on this innovative platform design which tests multiple drugs at the same time, speeding up the trial process.
The platform is currently testing tacrolimus which was added in early 2025 and the next drug to be tested has already been selected with its planned addition to the trial later this year.
In February we announced a trebling of MND Association funding for this expanding trial platform, making the Association the platform's primary funder.
Although these latest results are disappointing, one advantage of the MND-SMART trial design is that we can check for efficacy much quicker than in traditional trials, so if a drug isn’t showing benefit, we can move on quickly to add further drugs into the pipeline. The prompt announcement of negative results means that the global MND research community can focus their efforts and resources on other potential treatments.
Dr Brian Dickie, Chief Scientist at the MND Association
MND-SMART remains open to recruitment at 26 centres across the UK.
As the largest MND charity in the UK, the MND Association is at the heart of the fight against MND – and we will not stop until tomorrow’s treatments become a reality.