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Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have developed a transdermal patch that slowly delivers low-dose theophylline — a decades-old asthma drug — to promote myelin repair in multiple sclerosis. Backed by €1.1 million in funding, the patch is moving toward a Phase I clinical trial. If successful, it could become the first therapy to actively rebuild damaged myelin, not just slow the disease.
Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have developed a transdermal drug patch designed to do something no approved MS therapy currently can: actively rebuild damaged myelin sheaths. The patch delivers low doses of theophylline — a well-established asthma medication — continuously through the skin over several days. In mouse studies, low-dose theophylline boosted the activity of HDAC2, an enzyme key to myelin regeneration, promoting remyelination in the process.
With €1.1 million in new funding from ForTra gGmbH (a subsidiary of the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation), the team is scaling up production under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards and preparing for a Phase I trial in healthy volunteers at Mainz University Medical Center. That trial will assess patch adhesion, skin tolerability, and drug delivery — not yet efficacy in MS patients. A multicenter Phase II trial in MS patients is planned as the next step, pending additional funding.
Key Takeaways:
Why it matters: MS affects millions worldwide, and despite many available treatments, none can repair already-damaged nerve fibers. A therapy that promotes remyelination could meaningfully slow disability progression — a major leap forward for patients.
