New Zealand Researchers Screen Drugs To Treat Motor Neurone Disease

Researchers at the University of Auckland’s Centre for Brain Research have announced that they’ve begun studying how different drugs affect Motor Neurone Disease. Led by Dr. Emma Scotter, the drug screening project team will research 4,000 different drugs in order to determine if any of the treatments are effective at changing the development of Motor Neurone Disease in patients’ brain cells. The 4,000 drugs that will be tested have been obtained from two large drug libraries and contain both manufactured and natural compounds.

“The best outcome would be to find that one of these 4,000 different drugs could actually alter or slow the effects of MND in patient brain cells,” said Scotter.

Motor Neurone Disease is a neurological disease that affects an estimated 300 people in New Zealand. The disease affects the nerve cells that control the ability to move, swallow, speak, and breathe. The disease is fatal, as patients lose the ability to breathe and control other crucial muscles. Beth Watson, the MND Association President, has praised the research. “It’s a really exciting project and we’re lucky to have the likes of Dr. Scotter and MND Patron and head of the Centre for Brain Research Professor Richard Faull working on MND research in New Zealand,” she said.

Dr. Scotter is also optimistic about the project’s ability to bring about a drug with the ability to treat Motor Neurone Disease. She added that the research team will be working with a biobank led by Professor Mike Dragunow, which grows cells from the brains of MND patients. The biobank has received a $1 million philanthropic donation from the Hugh Green Foundation.