Dr. Obeidat Named Finalist for the 2024 “CMSC Neuroinnovator of the Year”
Cytokind Sponsored Trial Design Treats Greatest Unmet Need in MS
Intervale, New Hampshire – May 6, 2024/PR Newswire-PRWeb/
Cytokind, Inc., is proud to announce that Professor Ahmed Z. Obeidat’s abstract has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious title of 2024 Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers’ “CMSC Neuroinnovator of the Year.” The recognition highlights the groundbreaking work and innovative approach sponsored by Cytokind, Inc. in addressing unmet needs in MS treatment.
Dr Obeidat of the Medical College of Wisconsin will present Background, Advances, and Design of Phase 2 Randomized Trial of @Home Phototherapy for MS, the “Silent Symptoms Trial,” the first phase 2 trial to bring the benefits of phototherapy to MS. It is a placebo-controlled trial that will be conducted within a real-world MS population. This is the first trial powered by patient-reported fatigue and correlated with objective inflammatory biomarkers. This represents a pioneering effort in addressing the unsolved Silent Symptoms of fatigue and cognitive decline.
“This trial targets the biggest unmet need in MS, which is fatigue and the cognitive difficulties associated with it. The trial will be able to detect changes in improved fatigue, stabilization, and maybe even improve cognition,” said Dr. Obeidat. “I think the inclusive target patient population within the Silent Symptoms trial will change our thinking about who should be enrolled in clinical trials. Most trials have been very selective — excluding people who are not walking, or are over age 60, and so on. The Silent Symptoms trial will go all in, taking any MS patient with fatigue, which is the vast majority of our patients, and offering them phototherapy lights that they can take home.”
John MacMahon, the CEO of Cytokind, said, “It is well documented that a lack of outdoor sun exposure is correlated with earlier age of onset, higher prevalence, and faster disease progression in MS. We can help by providing patients with phototherapy lights at home. Dermatologists have been providing them to their psoriasis patients for decades, where they reduce systemic inflammation as effectively as biologics without the side effects. We believe—and the phase 1 data supports—that this is exactly what MS patients need as well.”
The 2024 CMSC Neuroinnovation Competition aims to recognize and celebrate original and innovative work in the field of MS research. The finalists will present their ideas at the upcoming annual CMSC conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
About Cytokind: Cytokind, Inc. is a hybrid medical device/drug discovery company advancing translational applications of phototherapy from dermatology to neurology to strengthen the human immune system and revolutionize treatment for individuals living with MS.
About the Abstract: Background, Advances, and Design of Phase 2 Randomized Trial of @Home Phototherapy for MS Authors: Ahmed Z. Obeidat, MD, PhD, Prue Hart, PhD, Carmen F. Castilla, MD, Stephanie Trend, PhD, Allan Kermode, MD, Elisa Sheng, PhD, Ferhan Qureshi, BS, Benjamin Wang, PhD, and John MacMahon, MS.
Media Contact
Craig Ullman
Cytokind, Inc.
917 864 0132
craig@cytokind.net
www.cytokind.net
