CombiRX:
The NIH makes a landmark study possible
Is
A + B better than either alone?
MS
researchers have also been asking this question. After preliminary pilot
trials showed that taking Avonex plus Copaxone is safe, the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) began a multi-million dollar trial last year to
get solid answers about effectiveness.
Head
to head and hand in hand
The
CombiRX trial is taking place in more than 70 centers across North America
. It's designed to involve 1,000 people with newly diagnosed relapsing MS.
They will be followed for three years, to see if their responses hold up
over time. The trial is "randomized" (meaning people are
selected by chance to be in one of three groups) and
"double-blind" (no one knows who is in which group), but it is not
"placebo-controlled." Instead of giving some people an inactive
placebo only, all volunteers receive at least one FDA-approved MS
treatment. They all inject themselves every day (as is standard for
Copaxone) and once a week (standard for Avonex). But for half of them,
some of the shots are blanks.
