MERIDIAN: A study to check the safety and efficacy of Pegcetacoplan in ALS patients.

This phase 2 study is sponsored by the company Apellis Pharmaceuticals and aims to determine whether inhibiting complement activation has an impact on ALS disease progression. It is a multicentre placebo-controlled study, in which pegcetacoplan will be compared with placebo. Pegcetacoplan is an inhibitor of complement protein C3. Complement activation plays a role in neuromuscular junction damage in patients with ALS. By inhibiting this form of inflammation, it is hoped to demonstrate a beneficial effect on disease progression.
The medication will be administered by subcutaneous injection twice a week. ALS patients who are at least 18 years old, have not been ill for more than 18 months, have a lung function (SVC) of more than 60% and have an ALS-FRS-R score of ≥30 may be eligible to participate in this study. There will be 228 patients worldwide participating in the study. The study will last 52 weeks and will be followed by an ‘open-label’ study (in which all patients receive the active product) of another 52 weeks.

More info on this study can be found on the clinicaltrials.gov website:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04579666?term=pegcetacoplan&cond=…