The MS Society has announced that the 100th patient has joined the world-first phase 2 clinical trial, ChariotMS, for advanced multiple sclerosis (MS).

The trial has been testing whether Mavenclad (cladribine) can help people living with MS maintain the use of their arms and hands.

Estimated to affect around 130,000 people in the UK, MS is a lifelong condition that affects the brain and spinal cord and can lead to problems with vision, arm or leg movement, sensation or balance.

Funded by the MS Society, ChariotMS is the first ever trial of a potential disease-modifying therapy (DMT) that focuses on people with advanced MS, both primary and secondary progressive, with no upper age limit.

Already licensed as a DMT, Mavenclad is used to treat highly active relapsing MS, which targets immune activity in the brain to stop the immune system from mistakenly damaging the protective coating around the nerves.

Aiming to enrol 200 patients, the trial has been recruiting those with an Expanded Disability Status Scale score of 6.5 to 8.5, meaning they cannot walk further than 20 metres with two crutches or are unable to walk at all but have some movement in their arms and hands.

Patients will be randomly assigned to orally take either Mavenclad or a placebo over the course of two years.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the UK Dementia Research Institute (UKDRI) have announced plans to establish the first research centre for vascular dementia research in the UK.

The new centre will help discover new treatments to prevent, halt and cure the condition.

Caused by poor blood flow to the brain, which deprives nerve cells of the oxygen and nutrients needed to survive, vascular dementia is the second most common form of dementia.

At present, the condition affects around 150,000 people in the UK and is set to double by 2050.

The new centre aims to virtually unite researchers from around the world to accelerate the discovery and search for new treatments to combat the condition.

Despite risk factors for vascular dementia that are already possible to modify, including high blood pressure, there is currently no treatment that can halt or reverse its progression.

The collaboration builds on the UKDRI’s current research into a range of neurodegenerative diseases and could accelerate research into vascular dementia, which is currently underfunded.

Over the next five years, the BHF and UKDRI will invest a total of £9m to drive pioneering research into the condition and the UKDRI will enable access to its cutting-edge technology and research centres.

Following its launch, the Vascular Dementia Centre will internationally recruit a ‘world-leading’ director and four new group leaders to join three existing group leaders in the UKDRI working in vascular dementia across key research themes.

Professor Nilesh Samani, BHF medical director, said: “The BHF-UKDRI Vascular Dementia Centre... will provide an international platform for world-leading collaborations that will accelerate the global search for a cure.”