Journal Club Recap: June 7, 2019

June 7, 2019: At Journal Club, our experts sat down to discuss a paper on the safety and efficacy of ADS-5102 pills to improve walking in MS.

Cohen et al 2019 - Safety and efficacy of ADS-5102 (amantadine) extended release capsules to improve walking in MS - A randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial

This drug, ADS-5102 (amantadine) has been used to improve movement control in patients with Parkinson’s Disease and animal model studies demonstrated that the drug may be effective for treating MS as well. This research group conducted a Phase II randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of this drug in MS patients. Their study demonstrated that the drug was tolerable, with the most common side effects being dry mouth, constipation, and insomnia. The drug also improved the walking speed of patients involved in the trial. Further studies need to be done to understand how the drug works and to evaluate the efficacy in a larger group of patients.