Fast Forward

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has awarded a two-year, $373,000 Fast Forward grant to researchers at the University of California Riverside School of Medicine to identify compounds best able to replace myelin lost over the course of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a press release.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society awarded more than $339,000 to Clene Nanomedicine to support clinical tests into its lead candidate CNM-Au8 in treating multiple sclerosis (MS) by protecting nerve cells and restoring myelin. The grant was awarded under the National MS Society’s Fast Forward program, which aims…

Fast Forward, a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, will invest up to $330,000 to advance the clinical development of an antibody that was shown to lessen inflammation and nerve cell damage in a multiple sclerosis (MS) mouse model. The funding will help develop the antibody (a protein…

Fast Forward, a non-profit subsidiary of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, will give financial support to TG Therapeutics to advance TGR-1202 (umbralisib) into preclinical testing as a potential oral therapy for progressive forms of multiple sclerosis. The support, whose value was not specified, is part of a Sponsored Research Agreement between Fast Forward and the company. Research work will be led by Lawrence Steinman, MD, a professor of pediatrics, neurology, and neurological sciences at Stanford University. TGR-1202 is an orally administrated inhibitor that blocks a signaling enzyme called PI3K delta. Immune cells such as B-cells have high levels of this enzyme, which is thought to be important for cell proliferation and survival. "We look forward to evaluating umbralisib [TGR-1202]'s effect on our preclinical progressive MS models in hopes to move umbralisib closer to clinical development in MS," Steinman said. The approval of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), by Genentech, to treat primary progressive and relapsing multiple sclerosis underscored the potential of B-cell-targeted therapies for MS patients. As a result, investigative drugs that also aim to bolster B-cell survival or activity, such as those being developed by TG Therapeutics, are an attractive approach to potentially treating patients. Another potential treatment by the company — an engineered antibody, TG-1101 — targets a specific sequence on the CD20 protein found on immune B-cells. This infusion therapy is now in two Phase 3 clinical studies for relapsing multiple sclerosis, ULTIMATE I and ULTIMATE II. Both are currently enrolling patients at sites in Kentucky, Tennessee, and New York.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society in the U.S. has awarded a new grant to a University College London (UCL)  research team to continue work into compounds with the potential to act as neuroprotective therapies for degenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS). The financial support comes through the Society’s business-oriented subsidiary, the Fast Forward venture.

California-based, late-preclinical stage pharmaceutical company, Bionure, Inc,. has just announced it has signed a Sponsored Research Agreement with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, thanks to Fast Forward, a division of the Society dedicated to commercial research and development for novel solutions for multiple sclerosis (MS). According…

San Francisco Bay Area-based Glialogix, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that specializes in developing novel treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS), announced yesterday that they have closed a Sponsored Research Agreement with Fast Forward, a non-profit organization that aims to accelerate MS treatment development. Glialogix will receive funding for one of their…