MSBase, Icometrix Collaborate on Global Imaging Project to Understand MS Progression

MSBase and icometrix have joined efforts in a large-scale project to identify imaging markers of multiple sclerosis (MS) that could help diagnose the disease in its early stages.

The combination of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) information collected from MS patients with clinical information from the MSBase Registry can offer new insights in disease progression, potentially leading to new predictive tools for MS. It may also promote more standardized use of imaging measures in clinical practice.

With more than 52,000 MS patients, the MSBase Registry is an international database committed to collecting patients’ information as well as sharing, tracking and evaluating overall outcome data in MS and other neurological conditions.

Until now, the MSBase Registry included only descriptive information regarding patients’ imaging analysis results, with no access to full imaging data. This joint, large-scale project will include MRI scan data routinely acquired in clinical setting taking advantage of icometrix’s software platform, MSmetrix.

“We wish to unlock the power of MRI for personalized monitoring in MS,” Helmut Butzkueven, director of MSBase, said in a press release. “The MSBase Scientific Leadership group has selected MRI integration as the top strategic priority for MSBase. We believe that already conducted MRI scans represent an enormous missed opportunity, because advanced measurements to assess change over time from these scans are not currently in practical use.”

Butzkueven said MSBase “will test the predictive power of this unlocking of MRI data in the first phase,” with a total of 10,000 MRI data points in at least 3,000 MS patients from all over the world. The project is expected to identify disease progression markers that could help detect early signs of MS by MRI evaluation.

This investigator-initiated collaboration between icometrix and the MSBase Foundation is being supported by three global pharmaceutical giants: Novartis, Biogen and Roche.

“MRI measures play an essential part in the complex puzzle of MS,” said Danny Bar Zohar, global head of neuroscience development at Novartis. “Partnering with MS Base and icometrix in this exciting project will bring the acquisition of high-quality real world data to the next level, ultimately improving the outcome of people living with MS.”