Lessons from the past: Failed MS trials

Past decades have seen significant progress in biomedical research on the pathogenesis of MS, leading to a variety of approved, albeit only partially effective, disease-modifying drugs. Despite these clear advances in our understanding of MS and novel immunotherapies, there have also been major drawbacks of negative, interrupted or even detrimental clinical studies. Meanwhile, the list of ineffective drugs is growing, despite promising data from animal studies and early-phase clinical studies. Moreover, several compounds exhibit severe side-effects or even deleterious consequences on the anticipated outcome, despite careful pre-clinical testing.