Octopus Clinical Trial for Primary and Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

That the Parliament welcomes the recent interim results from the Octopus clinical trial for primary and secondary progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS), which has indicated that alpha-lipoic acid has early promise as a potential treatment; notes that Octopus is designed to test potential treatments up to three times faster than traditional trials by using the multi-arm, multi-stage (MAMS) approach; understands that the trial is testing repurposed treatments and, at this stage, has tested metformin and alpha-lipoic acid; welcomes that alpha-lipoic acid will now continue to the next stage of the trial, which will see hundreds more people recruited; believes that Octopus demonstrates that an innovative approach to clinical trials is possible with MS and that this encouraging news is a step in the right direction to finding treatments to slow or stop progression of MS; anticipates that new treatments to be tested will be announced in early 2027 and that the final results of the alpha-lipoic stage of the trial will be available in 2029; considers this to be a positive development for people living with progressive MS, including in Paisley, who currently have limited treatment options, and wishes staff and participants well as the trial continues.