MS organisations commit to a shared global research strategy to accelerate cures for MS

MS organisations from Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the MS International Federation jointly declared their collective commitment to a global research strategy to cure MS. This commitment will be guided by the Pathways to Cures Roadmap that describes three distinct but overlapping cure pathways: (1) stopping the MS disease process, (2) restoring lost function by reversing damage and symptoms, and (3) ending MS through prevention.

Through the Global Research Strategy Framework, the organisations will:

• Complete a landscape analysis of MS research funding and infrastructure
• Share national research plans and identify specific areas for collaboration and acceleration
• Align individual and collective resources and to develop a Global Research Strategy Framework to achieve the greatest impact
• Create new joint initiatives to address strategic gaps
• Engage people affected by MS in all aspects of the Global Research Strategy Framework
• Report on progress together

This commitment was affirmed during the recent Pathways to Cures Global Summit that brought together 200 global leaders from MS advocacy organisations, researchers, doctors, government funders, pharmaceutical companies, supporters and people living with MS. Coordination between MS organisations to develop a global research strategy will effectively address knowledge gaps and avoid duplication to speed progress toward cures together.

Professor Brenda Banwell — Chair of MSIF’s International Medical and Scientific Board, Chief of Child Neurology and Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

Anne Helme, MSIF's Head of Research and Access

Peer Baneke, CEO of the MS International Federation says:

‘Over 2.8 million people around the world are living with MS. With our members we will do all we can to support the global research strategy. We need to bring the world together, so that people affected by MS can have hope that we will achieve cures faster and eventually end MS forever.’

Pathways to Cures Global Summit in New York. Image by the National MS Society.

MS Organisations Endorsing this Statement:

• Associazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla (Italian MS Society)
• Deutsche Multiple Sklerose Gesellschaft (Germany)
• Esclerosis Múltiple España (Spain)
• Fondation pour l’Aide à la Recherche sur la Sclérose En Plaques (France)
• MS Australia
• MS Canada
• MS International Federation (Global)
• MS Society UK
• National MS Society (U.S.)
• Scleroseforeningen (Danish MS Society)

About Pathways to Cures

MS is a growing global health challenge affecting over 2.8 million people worldwide. Tremendous progress has been made in the understanding and treatment of MS over the last several decades, but cures remain elusive. Progress will be hastened by having a roadmap that describes the knowledge gaps, milestones and research priorities leading to cures for everyone with MS.

The Pathways to Cures Roadmap was published in 2022 and includes carefully considered recommendations from leaders in MS research and clinical care, as well as people living with MS. The Roadmap is a comprehensive plan to achieve MS cures and has been endorsed by 30 leading MS patient and professional organisations across the globe

Research breakthroughs leading to MS cures will require strategic investments in areas of high opportunity and increased multidisciplinary collaboration. The Roadmap is a focal point to coordinate, innovate and optimize research investments.