A Lanarkshire dad who has motor neurone disease (MND) has backed a £350,000 campaign to help researchers fund a clinical trial for a drug aimed at reversing the condition.
Mark Sommerville, from Uggingston has teamed up with Tony Lockett and Andy Whiting, from Nevrargenics, who are behind a drug which they believe stops and reverses the impact of MND.
Their lead drug, Ellorarxine, has just been approved by the UK MHRA to begin its first clinical trial in MND and Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) patients, reports The Record.
However, to accelerate the clinical trial process and begin critical manufacturing, they need to raise £350,000 to advance the early-phase work required to bring Ellorarxine to patients.
Mark, 43, who was given his devastating diagnosis in October and told he had 18 months to live, has backed Nevrargenics’ campaign.
Dad-of-four Mark said: “MND is a battle against a cruel, life-limiting illness, with no effective treatment options available.
“This new drug is something that no one has ever done before. There is no cure for MND, so everything must be done and everything must be done to give people a chance. What have we got to lose? Only everything to gain.”
Whiting, the chief executive officer of Nevargenics said the company’s “plan is to get Ellorarxine into MND patients before the end of 2025”.
Mark set up the Mark Sommerville Foundation to fund research and believes more needs to be done by governments to help find a cure.
Last month, Mark was singled out for support by Prime Minister Keir Starmer. His case was highlighted by Labour MP for Coatbridge and Bellshill Frank McNally, who called for the government to increase funding into research for a cure.
Starmer recognised Mark’s work and that of rugby league star Kevin Sinfield, who has raised another million for MND sufferers – the disease that took best pal Rob Burrow in June at the age of just 41.
Whiting, CEO of Nevargenics said their “plan is to get ellorarxine into MND patients before the end of 2025”. He added: “The UK investment market is currently in crisis, especially for cutting edge innovative biomedical breakthroughs to bridge the financial gap between preclinical research and human testing, so this key funding could save 4-5 months, and given an average life-span on 24 months for MND patients, this is an important time saving.”
Sign up to our daily Glasgow Live newsletter here to receive news and features direct to your inbox
Join Glasgow Live’s WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.