Stem Cell trials for MS in Melbourne and Sydney At what stage is the clinical trial I found these trials through the MS Society Australia

The short version: I still can't give you a phase or a recruitment status for any Melbourne or Sydney MS stem cell trial. Nothing in front of me names an Australian site.

What I can do is tell you what stage the science is at, which is what the MS Society listing is really pointing you toward. The procedure in question is aHSCT, using your own blood stem cells after wiping out your immune system. The largest pooled data show about 68 in 100 free of disease activity at five years and about 23 in 100 with disability progression [1]. Treatment-related death was about 5 in 100 across all regimens, falling to under 1 in 100 for regimens used after 2005 [1].

The field's own reviewers say phase III trials are still needed and safety monitoring must be careful [3]. Guidance for neurologists says aHSCT should only happen inside properly regulated studies, at a center with JACIE accreditation and MS experience that reports outcomes to a transplant registry [2]. That is the standard to hold any Australian listing against.

So when you look at the MS Society page, the question to ask each site is not "what phase" but "is this a registered trial with a trial number, and does it report to a registry." A trial number you can look up is the difference between research and a clinic selling hope.

My call: the procedure has real benefit in highly active MS and real risk, and the field is still short of phase III proof; the Australian trial stage I cannot confirm. Confidence: moderate on the science, low on Australian trial status.