The trial aims to compare the safety and efficacy of masitinib at 6mg/kg/day with placebo in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis or relapse free secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.
The company expects to recruit around 450 patients across 60 centers throughout the world.
Principal investigator of this study Patrick Vermersch said Masitinib is a selective inhibitor of specific kinases that play a major role in the activation of mast cells involved in the immune response, in the recruitment of lymphocytes to the brain, and also in inflammatory processes associated with multiple sclerosis and many of its resulting symptoms.