September 7, 2018 News by Diogo Pinto Active Biotech Regains Full Rights to Laquinimod from Teva, Plans to Continue Work on Potential MS Oral Therapy Active Biotech announced it has regained global development and commercialization rights over laquinimod, its investigational oral therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), from Teva Pharmaceuticals. Teva released rights to laquinimod after the company decided not to continue with its clinical development. Teva will give Active Biotech full…
June 28, 2018 News by Vijaya Iyer, PhD Laquinimod, Potential PPMS Therapy, Seen to Ease Damage to Vision in Mouse Model Treating mice in a model of multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā with laquinimod before the onset of symptoms eased inflammation so as to help preserve their vision ā lessening damage to the optic nerve and retina, a study from Germany reports. The study, āLaquinimod protects the optic nerve and…
December 11, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Mavenclad, Steroids, Blood Tests, Laquinimod, MS Diagnosis Health Canada Approves Merckās Mavenclad to Treat RRMS The European Union OK’d Mavenclad back in August. Now, Canada has come on board with approval for this oral MS therapy, which has been reporting very good success at attacking MS. How about the United States joining them? Apparently,…
December 5, 2017 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Laquinimod Fails to Slow Brain Atrophy and PPMS Progression, Says Developer Active Biotech Sweden'sĀ Active BiotechĀ said its experimental therapyĀ LaquinimodĀ failed to meet the primary and secondary objectives of Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the drug's potentialĀ to treat primary progressive multiple sclerosis. Laquinimod, also known asĀ NerventraĀ orĀ ABR-215062, was developed by Active Biotech and Israel'sĀ Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. The drug targets inflammation and degeneration in neurological tissue. Preclinical studies using animal models of multiple sclerosis showed that laquinimod regulated inflammatory and immune responses in these animals, reducing disease progression. The ARPEGGIO Phase 2 study aimed to evaluate laquinimod's efficacy, safety and tolerability in PPMS patients. Its primary endpoint was brain atrophy as defined by percent brain volume change. Secondary goals included time to disability progression, change in timed 25-foot walk, and number of new T2 lesions. The multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial enrolled 374 individuals. Initially, the study aimed to evaluate two doses of laquinimod ā 0.6 and 1.5 mg/day ā in PPMS compared to placebo. However, the highest dose was discontinued in January 2016 after some participants reported adverse cardiovascular events. In a Dec. 1 press release,Ā Active Biotech said the lower dose of laquinimod failed to slow both the rate of brain atrophy and disease progression.Ā āThere was, however, a reduction in new T2 lesions observed in patients treated with laquinimod 0.6 mg,ā said the company's president and CEO, HelĆ©n Tuvesson. The trial revealed a similar safety profile to that observed in previous studies in relapsing-remitting MS patients (RRMS). The most common adverse reactions were headache, nasopharyngities, upper respiratory tract infection,and back pain. Results of the ARPEGGIO trial will likely be presented at a future scientific conference and published in a scientific journal. Earlier this year, Active BiotecĀ stopped developing laquinimod as a potential RRMS treatment after a Phase 3 study failed to achieve its primary goal: slowing disease progression. Laquinimod is also being evaluated as a potential therapy for Huntingtonās disease in a Phase 2 clinical trial.
May 9, 2017 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Laquinimod Fails to Meet Primary Clinical Trial Goal of Slowing Progression of RRMS LaquinimodĀ failed to meet its primary Phase 3 clinical trial objective of slowing the progression ofĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) after three months, according to its developers,Ā Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Active Biotech. That has prompted the partners to abandon their quest to use the therapy to treat RRMS. Laquinimod…
April 20, 2017 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Teva to Discuss MS and Huntington’s Therapies at Premier Neurology Conference Teva Pharmaceutical Industries will discuss two of its multiple sclerosis therapies, one that reduces relapses and one that appears to protect nerve structure, at a premier neurology conference in Boston this month. It will also give presentationsĀ at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of NeurologyĀ on therapies…
October 12, 2016 News by Alexandra Andersson, PhD Potential Therapy, Laquinimod, Shows Promise as Progressive MS Treatment in Mouse Study The experimental therapyĀ laquinimodĀ was seen to prevent the start of harmful immune responses and to disrupt the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a mouse model of the disease. This finding may be especially promising, as the treatment is being developed for people with both relapsing MS and its rarer progressive…
September 26, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Change in Clinical Test Dose of Potential MS Therapy, Laquinimod, Triggers FDA Response Active BiotechĀ acknowledged inĀ an update on laquinimod, the oral small molecule being developed by Teva Pharmaceutical IndustriesĀ to treatĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) and Huntingtonās disease (HD), that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasĀ rescinded the special protocol assessment given to a Phase 3 study of the treatment in…
April 15, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Teva to Present Pipeline Data on MS Treatments at Ongoing AAN Annual Meeting Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd., announced that new data on four of its products, including an approved and a potential treatment for multiple sclerosis, will be presented atĀ the 68th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), running through April 21 in Vancouver, Canada. The data, to be…
January 7, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Drug Under Study No Longer Being Given in Higher Doses to Patients Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Active Biotech have discontinued the use of higher doses of the drug laquinimod in two ongoing multiple sclerosis (MS) studies. The decision was based on a recommendation byĀ the Data Monitoring Committee (DMC)Ā that isĀ supervising the clinical trials afterĀ cardiovascular events, none of which were fatal,…
October 7, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Teva Pharmaceuticals to Present New Data on Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Copaxone and Laquinimod at ECTRIMS 2015 The world’sĀ largest generic medicines manufacturer,Ā Teva Pharmaceutical, is at theĀ 31st European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) Congress currently ongoing in Barcelona, from October 7-10, 2015. Teva will be presenting the latest findings on its relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy COPAXONEĀ®Ā (glatiramer acetate injection), and product candidate for…
November 5, 2014 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Teva and Active Biotech Expand Investigational MS Treatment Program Drug manufacturersĀ Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.Ā and Active Biotech announced that they expanding the ongoing clinical research program for the study ofĀ laquinimod, a potential treatment for primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), as the companies are now initiating theĀ ARPEGGIO trial. In addition, Teva has also announced…
September 15, 2014 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Teva, Active Biotech Present Positive Findings for RRMS Experimental Therapy Laquinimod During the 30th Congress of the European Committee for Research and Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) last week in Boston, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TEVA), together with Active Biotech (NASDAQ OMX NORDIC:ACTI), presented new follow-up data evaluating the clinical safety of laquinimod in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS)…
May 26, 2014 by Patricia Silva, PhD Multiple Sclerosis Drug NerventraĀ® (Laquinimod) Disapproved in EU; Drug Developers Will Continue Research Two pharmaceutical companies,Ā Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) and Active Biotech, have just confirmed reports that theĀ Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) is not recommendingĀ NERVENTRA (laquinimod) for use in treatingĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) within the European Union (EU), according to a recent press release. Despite CHMP’s disapproval of TEVA…