An already known molecule, studied for a completely different purpose, could change the future of progressive multiple sclerosis.

This is what emerges from research published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine, which demonstrates for the first time the possibility of protecting neurons and repairing myelin in experimental models of the disease.

The molecule is called bavisant and was found to be the most promising of over 1,500 already approved drugs , analyzed using an innovative artificial intelligence-based screening system. This result marks a crucial step forward, especially for progressive forms of multiple sclerosis, which have always been the most difficult to treat.

The work is the result of the international consortium BRAVEinMS, founded in 2017 with the support of the International Progressive MS Alliance, of which the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Association (AISM) and its Foundation (FISM) are founding members and funders.

A scientific alliance that brought together some of the most important research centers in the world , from the University of California in San Francisco to the San Raffaele in Milan, passing through Paris, Montreal, Münster, Mainz and the Istituto Superiore di Sanità.

The starting question was simple: is it possible to reuse existing drugs to fight multiple sclerosis?

Using advanced computational models and AI, the researchers progressively narrowed the number of candidate molecules: from 1,500 to 273, then 32, then 6, until they finally found bavisant, a drug known as an H3 histamine receptor antagonist, already used for sleep and wakefulness disorders.

In experimental models of multiple sclerosis, bavisant has demonstrated a dual action never observed before with such clarity: on the one hand, it stimulates the cells that produce myelin to repair nerve fibers, on the other, it protects neurons from degenerative damage.

"We demonstrated that bavisant promotes both remyelination and neuroprotection," . This result was obtained not only in animal models, but also in organoids derived from human cells, both from healthy subjects and from people with multiple sclerosis.