According to Professor David Wraith (founder of Apitope), the concept of the vaccine is based on desensitization. He along with Geoff Watts had discovered a way of developing vaccines that treat autoimmune diseases and allergies.

The patient would be given injections of the allergen that causes the reaction. This sounds very similar to the way homeopathic medicines work, where very small amounts of the things that you are allergic to are taken over a period of time.

T-Cells and peptides

Professor Wraith explains that T-lymphocytes or T-Cells respond to peptides which are small fragments in whatever is causing the allergy or autoimmune disease. The group was able to single out peptides that suppress the immune reaction.

So instead of causing the damage, these peptides stop the damage from happening. The ideal result? No MS!

Apitope's biggest hurdle has been finding funding for their promising vaccine for multiple sclerosis. A tox-study and a small clinical trial have been done. The clinical trial on 6 advanced stage patients with MS proved successful. One of them had great improvement in their eyesight.

Funding hope

Even with this success, Apitope couldn't find funding to do larger clinical trials in the UK. A group of investors in Belgium and Luxembourg were interested and took on the task.

What does this mean for patients with MS? Clinical trials are now able to begin. A vaccine for multiple sclerosis may well be in the near future. Hopefully it will reverse some of the damage caused by MS.

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