What foiled her was the simple but harsh reality that, aside from big pharmaceutical firms and big government, deep-pocket underwriters are as scarce as miracle cures.
Walter Koroshetz, deputy director of the NIH's Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, said it was "nobody's fault" that some worthy proposals missed the "payline."
"The system has flaws, I'm sure, but it's democratic," he said. "It's purely a competitive thing."
Nonetheless, some patients believe the NIH favors the pharmaceutical industry, for which MS has become a $5 billion market. The NIH last fall announced it would fund a $44 million trial to see if combining two MS drugs, Copaxone and Avonex, boosts their effectiveness.
Economist Dean Baker, codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, said he believed the existing drug-development system discouraged "large areas of potentially useful research."
"There's not an easy way to fix it," he said. "There's so much money at stake."
In 2007, the National MS Society decided to intercede, said Patricia O'Looney, the MS Society's vice president of biomedical research. It pledged $4.8 million for the estriol trial, one of its largest grants ever.
That grew to $5.6 million after the NIH came up with a portion, and economic-stimulus funds paid for expansion from seven to 16 sites, including Penn.
"It aggravates me," said Freney, "that the funding was so difficult to come by. I think unless it's a drug that can benefit men, it doesn't get pushed."
Trials and tribulations
The second trial has enrolled about half the intended 150 women. For two years - long enough to assess relapse rates - they will take estriol or a placebo plus Copaxone, because it would be unethical to deprive them of proven treatment for that long. However, they must provide their own Copaxone, so effectively, only women with health insurance can volunteer.
"If we covered the Copaxone, it'd cost another $2 million," Voskuhl said.
Freney is unwavering, even though she may not personally benefit, no matter the outcome.
"If I'm on the placebo, that's part of the trial," she said. "I wouldn't be mad. I wouldn't feel cheated. What I'm doing is my contribution to finding out" if estriol works.
Results should be available in 2013. Then she would have to do the third trial - the largest, longest study, meant to definitively prove safety and effectiveness.
But if there is a final trial, it will be a tribulation.
"I'll have to start this whole rigmarole again to get even more money," Voskuhl said. "Probably $20 million."
Contact staff writer Marie McCullough at 215-854-2720 or mmccullough@phillynews.com.
