Researching COVID-19 in progressive MS requires a globally coordinated, multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder approach-perspectives from the International Progressive MS Alliance.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of research for the health of our society and highlighted the need for stakeholders of the health research and care continuum to form a collaborative and interdependent ecosystem.
Objective: With the world still reeling from waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and adapting to the vaccine rollout at widely different rates, the International Progressive MS Alliance (hereafter Alliance) organized a meeting (April 2021) to consider how the Covid-19 pandemic impacts the health and well-being of people with progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
Methods: We invited the Alliance stakeholders and experts to present what they have learned about SARS-CoV-2 infection and progressive MS and to define future scientific priorities.
Results: The meeting highlighted three priorities for additional focus: (1) the impact of Disease Modifying Therapies (DMTs) on the risk of COVID-19 and on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in people with progressive MS; (2) the long-term impact of COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines on the biology of progressive MS; and (3) the impact on well-being of people with progressive MS.
Conclusion: This paper's calls to action could represent a path toward a shared research agenda. Multi-stakeholder and long-term investigations will be required to drive and evolve such an agenda.
Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: B Banwell serves as an advisor to Novartis, Roche, UCB, UTSW and Sanofi, and has received grant funding from Canadian MS Society, NMSS and NIH. T Coetzee is an employee of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, a managing member of the International Progressive MS Alliance and has no conflict of interest. G Comi has received compensation for consulting services for Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, Novartis, Teva, Sanofi, Genzyme, Merck, Biogen, Excemed, Roche, Almirall, Chugai, Receptos, and Forward Pharma and compensation for speaking activities for Novartis, Teva, Sanofi, Genzyme, Merck, Biogen, Excemed, and Roche. A Feinstein is on an Advisory Board for Akili Interactive and reports grants from the MS Society of Canada, book royalties from Johns Hopkins University Press, Cambridge University Press and Amadeus Press and speaker’s honoraria from Novartis, Biogen, Roche, and Sanofi-Genzyme. R. Hyde is an employee of Biogen and co-chair of the International Progressive MS Alliance Industry Forum. M. Salvetti reports speaking honoraria and research support from Merck, Sanofi, Novartis, Biogen, Roche, Bristol Myers Squibb. K Smith receives consulting fees for project work from the International Progressive MS Alliance, and travel support from the Alliance as a member of the Scientific Steering Committee and the National MS Society as a member of their Scientific Advisory Committee. P Zaratin is an employee of the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Society, a managing member of the International Progressive MS Alliance and has no conflict of interest.
(© The Author(s), 2022.)