Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Invest in ME/UCL Rituximab Clinical Trial for ME





From Invest in ME September newsletter, out now.

Invest in ME/UCL UK Rituximab Trial for M.E.

One Event Can Change Everything

We are pleased to announce that in a very short time we have now, with the help of our supporters, raised £57,000 (now £58,000) for the Invest in ME/UCL UK rituximab trial.

IiME received a very generous matching donation of £25 000 from a charitable foundation that wishes to remain anonymous but has asked us to keep them updated of the progress being made.
This extraordinarily generous support now means that the first part of the trial can start without delay.

The UCL team is working on a study to confirm and expand Dr Bansal’s B cell results in a different cohort of ME patients. You can read Invest in ME’s full announcement here http://www.ukrituximabtrial.org/Rituximab%20news-Aug13%2002.htm


Our advisor, Professor Jonathan Edwards, will be visitng Bergen, Norway, soon to discuss with the Haukeland team of Professor Olav Mella and Dr Oystein Fluge. This is a wonderful example of the collaboration and cooperation that came from the IiME Biomedical Research into ME Collaborative meeting which we organised in May this year in London [http://www.investinme.org/IIME-Newslet-1305-03.htm
].

A pdf document has been added so that the UK rituximab study status may be downloaded and given to healthcare professionals if required. We will update this as we progress - http://bit.ly/1cN4GzB


To accompany the fundraising efforts we have two posters available, which can be downloaded or obtained from IiME. These are available here. http://www.ukrituximabtrial.org/Rituximab%20news-Sep13%2002.htm


The Funders page contains those groups who have supported Invest in ME by donating. Recent additions have been Richamond and Kinston ME Group and Network MESH West London - who have made kind donations in support of the charity and the trial.
http://www.ukrituximabtrial.org/IIMEUKRT%20Funders.htm


For any groups or companies or organisations or individuals who wish to contribute to the funding of the IiME/UCL rituximab project then we have devised a new fundraising scheme - The MATRIX.

We are pleased to see more and more people taking the challenge of owning a matrix slot and aiming to raise £1000 for the rituximab project. See how the matrix is shaping up here http://www.ukrituximabtrial.org/IIME%20UK%20Rituximab%20Trial%20Matrix%2001.htm


This has been a truly international collaboration with participation from USA, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Ireland, Germany and UK.

We thank all those who are supporting us in making this important clinical trial a reality.

Sign up to receive these free newsletters by email here.
http://www.investinme.org/IIMENewslettersubs.htm

Past newsletters are on the website here.
http://www.investinme.org/IIME%20newsletter.htm


PS 24 September 2013 !!!!!!!!!!!!:

We can now announce that IiME have been given a pledge of £200,000 from a foundation to supplement the amount we have raised already.

This would bring our rituximab fund to almost £260,000 – that is over two-thirds of the requirement for the clinical trial to proceed.

The foundation has two conditions to this pledge
  • That IiME continue to be the lead patient organisation steering this trial
  • That IiME continue to raise funds for the remaining £90,000 that is required for the full trial to proceed
 
The trustees of IiME have accepted these conditions willingly.
We are thankful and grateful for this extraordinarily generous offer from the donating foundation. It is an amazing gesture from compassionate and caring people who want to make a difference. It allows the hopes of many patients to become a reality – allows a vision to be maintained that there is a future for ME patients and that we, patients and families, can make a difference.
We have communicated this to the UCL team with whom we are working to make this trial a reality.
We are now distributing this information to our supporters.
There were many who doubted that IiME and our supporters could achieve this. Though we knew this would be a daunting task we have never doubted it was possible.
We continue our efforts to raise the remaining funds.
To our supporters who have been with us since the beginning and everyone who has contributed in so many ways to this trial we want you to know this is your result. It is what you have achieved. It is what we have achieved together.
We thank all those who are supporting this trial and we will continue to provide information on the status of the trial as we progress.
We continue to welcome support. Please contact IiME directly if you or your organisation would like to assist or contribute. 
If anyone would like to ask any questions about the UK rituximab trial then please use the Contact form on the rituximab web site [4].
A status is available [5].
With this trial we can take a huge leap forward in ME research.
If you are also interested in the other research projects that Invest in ME is  organising and/or funding please see our main website and free newsletter [6].
Let’s Do Research! Let’s Do It For ME!

 
Thank You.


 Invest in ME                                            September 2013

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