Researchers
Dr Alan Stanley; Neurologist Hawkes Bay and MND New Zealand Council member – Principal Investigator.
A research team consisting of a neurologist and research nurse will be based at each of the elected four sites; Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, with oversight from Dr Alan Stanley.
Current Research
The Lighthouse II Project will investigate whether targeting HERVs with anti-retroviral therapy might slow disease progression in patients with MND/ALS. HERVs are ancient viruses that have left their genetic material in our DNA during the human evolution. In some people, this old genetic material may become activated and play a role in the development of MND.
Phase 2 of the Lighthouse Trial showed that Triumeq could suppress this genetic reactivation and may slow disease progression in patients with ALS. Triumeq is a drug that is used to treat patients with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and is shown to be safe and well tolerated in patients with ALS/MND. You can read more about the outcome of this phase of the trial here.
Phase 3 – Lighthouse II
Phase 3 known as Lighthouse II, is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The aim of this study is to determine if Triumeq improves survival in people with ALS/MND compared with placebo. Lighthouse II is expecting to enroll 390 participants worldwide, who will take Triumeq for a maximum of 24 months, 20 of these participants will be MND patients from New Zealand. You can find out more about the trial here.
The Lighthouse II Project is supported by Motor Neurone Disease New Zealand.
Who is eligible to participate
To be eligible individuals must be on the NZ MND Registry, reside in one of the four site locations – Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Christchurch or Dunedin and meet the inclusion criteria set by the trial. The NZ MND Registry will contact those eligible directly to see if they would like to participate, with the expectation that there will be approximately 5 clients enrolled from each each site.
Additional resources
Additional information about this trial is available in the following links.
MND New Zealand – Lighthouse II – NZ’s first multi-site phase 3 clinical trial announced
MND Research Blog – ‘Lighthouse Project shines a beacon on HERVs and their role in ALS’
ClinicalTrials.gov – Triumeq in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration –‘Safety and tolerability of Triumeq in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: the Lighthouse trial’
