Doddie’s £250k for MND drugs
Scientists hope to fast-track potential treatments
A £250,000 donation from Scots rugby hero Doddie Weir’s charity will boost research into drugs which could treat motor neurone disease.
The former player, who announced last year that he has the incurable illness, has spearheaded fundraising efforts with his My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.
Researchers are looking at whether drugs used for other conditions could help MND patients.
And the charity’s cash injection could help to cut years from the waiting times for new treatments to become available because existing drugs being tested are already known to be safe for patients.
Doddie, 48, said: “We launched My Name’5 Doddie Foundation with the clear aim of supporting research to help find a cure for MND. We hope that by pledging funds to this initiative, we can help make a difference.
“This commitment has only been possible through the incredible help and fundraising efforts of the fine people who have supported us over the past10 months.”
The team at the Euan MacDonald Centre for MND Research in Edinburgh will take blood cell samples from people with the condition and convert them into brain cells in the lab.
Scientists will then use advanced drug testing technology, developed at the University of Edinburgh, to screen scores of existing medicines on the cells.
They hope to identify drugs that might ease MND symptoms and prioritise those that could be fasttracked for clinical trials.
Centre director Professor Siddharthan Chandran said: “If we find something that looks promising, it can be taken into clinical trials far more quickly than an unlicensed drug.”
Doddie’s foundation have invested more than £500,000 in research projects.