A NEW drug that could help combat the degenerative condition motor neurone disease (MND) is being trialled in Glasgow - the first test of its kind for more than 20 years.
Campaigners against the disease hailed the MIROCALS clinical trial - which is taking place in the UK and France - as an “historic moment”.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon welcomed the news, saying it could be a “major step towards the goal of a cure for this devastating disease”.
MND patients in Scotland are now being recruited to take part in the research, which involves the use of a drug already used to treat some some kinds of cancer.
As part of the trial, patients with ALS - which is the most common form of MND - will be given Interleukin-2 to see if it has any impact on the speed at which the disease progresses.
The trial comes after the charity MND Scotland committed more than £1.5 million for drug trials, with the MIROCALS (Modifying Immune Response and Outcomes in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) project the first investment as a result.
Consultant neurologist Dr George Gorrie at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow will be leading the trial in Scotland.
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