There has been dramatic progress in the understanding and treatment of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder. But progressive MS, a more advanced form of the disease, has remained elusive. Now, a novel collaboration has brought an international group of MS societies together to fund research. We spoke to Bruce Bebo, executive vice president of research for the National MS Society and a member of the Progressive MS Alliance, about the intractability of progressive MS, how the unusual cooperation between MS groups came about, and whether the alliance will stand as a model for groups working in other disease areas looking to get the most out of their research investments.