Trimetazidine

What is the drug thought to do in the body?

Changes in metabolism and the way energy is used in the body has been seen in MND. In many cases, these changes cause the body to use more energy than normal and have been linked to faster disease progression. Trimetazidine is a partial fatty acid oxidation inhibitor, which is already used to correct changes in metabolism in angina. In MND, it is thought trimetazidine could slow disease progression by reducing heightened metabolism and oxidative stress.

Trial Outome

The Phase 2 (MetFlex) trial was investigating Trimetazidine in an open label study over 12 weeks. The researchers who led the trial have reported that the drug was found to be safe and well tolerated by people with MND. The trial also found that markers of oxidative stress (which contributes to cell damage) and resting energy expenditure (the energy our bodies use when resting) were significantly decreased during the trial. This suggests that the drug worked as the researchers thought within the body. Trimetazidine now needs to be tested in a larger, placebo-controlled trial to see if it might be able to slow down the progression of the disease.