April 14, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Vumerity Added to NHS of England for People With Active RRMS The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has added oral Vumerity (diroximel fumarate), approved to treat relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in the U.K., to the list of medications available through the public health program for England. Because the therapy has been recommended through a fast track appraisal process, Vumerity…
April 14, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Behavioral Training May Help MS Patients Recognize Facial Expressions An intervention that involves training to recognize facial expressions, and also mimicking these expressions, may help people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have trouble recognizing facial affect, according to data from a small clinical trial. These findings were reported in the study “Emotional processing intervention (EMOPRINT):…
April 13, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Select Brain Stimulation May Ease MS Tremor, But More Study Needed Electrically stimulating certain regions of the brain may help to ease tremors in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), but the specific brain regions needed for stimulation may be unique in MS compared to other tremor-causing diseases, a new study suggests. The study, “Connectomic analysis of unilateral dual-lead…
April 11, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS New Bouts of Depression, Anxiety Linked to Pandemic, US Survey Finds Many people with multiple sclerosis (MS) report new bouts of depression and anxiety as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but factors that often influence such mental health concerns were not associated with anxiety or depression in the patient group surveyed for a recent U.S. study. “We found that…
April 8, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #AAN2022 – Phase 1 Data Shows NVG-291 Safe; Trial in MS Patients Anticipated NVG-291, an experimental therapy designed to promote nervous system repair, has so far been well tolerated in an ongoing Phase 1 study with healthy volunteers. “The Phase 1 study is progressing very well, and we are encouraged by the data we are seeing so far,” Daniel Mikol, MD, PhD, chief…
April 7, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #AAN2022 – CONSONANCE Update Shows Ocrevus’ Effectiveness After 1 Year Nearly three of every four participants in the CONSONANCE clinical trial, which is evaluating Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) in people with primary or secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), showed no evidence of disease progression after a year of treatment. That’s according to new data presented at the American Academy of…
April 6, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #AAN2022 – Data from Multiple Trials Show Kesimpta’s Safety, Efficacy Treatment with Kesimpta (ofatumumab) for more than three years revealed no new or unexpected safety findings, and continued to slow disability progression and prevent the development of new brain lesions in people with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new clinical trial data. Information from another trial also…
April 5, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #AAN2022 – Ublituximab Bests Aubagio on Disability Measures Ublituximab, an experimental therapy for relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, outperformed Aubagio on a number of disability-related outcomes in the ULTIMATE clinical trials, new data show. The findings were presented in a series of posters at the 2022 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting, being held in…
April 1, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS No Link Between Herpes Infection and MS Risk in Genetic Study Infection with the herpes simplex virus does not increase the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new analysis based on genetic data. The study, “Mendelian Randomization Analysis Suggests No Associations of Herpes Simplex Virus Infections With Multiple Sclerosis,” was published in Frontiers in…
March 30, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS MS Society of Canada Grants Will Support 66 Research Projects The MS Society of Canada is providing thousands in funding to 66 research projects that aim to accelerate scientific understand of multiple sclerosis (MS) and to improve care for people with the disease. The society announced the winners of its 2022–23 Annual Research Competition in four categories…
March 24, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS STAT5 Protein Complex Implicated in MS Autoimmunity in Mice A four-protein complex, or tetramer, of the protein STAT5 is involved in the development of multiple sclerosis (MS)-like autoimmune disease in mice, a new study shows. The findings point to this protein complex and its signaling pathway as a potential treatment in MS and other autoimmune conditions, scientists noted.
March 23, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Scientists Review State of Cannabis Research in MS Treatment with cannabis-based medications may ease muscle spasms, decrease pain, and aid in sleep for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), but more research is needed to evaluate the potential benefits of cannabis use. That is the finding of a team of U.S. researchers who published a review paper, “…
March 22, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Smell Test Might Help Predict if MS Treatments Are Working A measure of the nose’s sensitivity to smell could be used to detect whether treatments for relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) are working or not, a new study indicates. The scientists noted that their results need to be validated through further study, but said the findings suggest that a smell…
March 18, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS MS Doctors, Nurses in UK Struggle With Marking Transition to SPMS Among healthcare providers in the U.K., considerable variation exists in marking the transition from relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) to secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), a study based on interview responses reports. Neurologists and nurses with MS specialties also expressed a reluctance to label patients as having progressed to…
March 16, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS BCG Vaccine for TB Not Linked to MS Risk: Large Canadian Study Getting the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine to protect against tuberculosis (TB) — an immunization often given to infants and small children in countries where TB is common — does not decrease a person’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study. “Within a large birth cohort…
March 16, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Novantrone Lowers Relapses, Eases Disability in Highly Active RRMS Initial treatment with Novantrone (mitoxantrone) can reduce the risk of relapses and worsening disability in people with highly active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to a 10-year study from France. “Our results support the short-term use of [Novantrone], followed by a maintenance therapy for patients with early highly…
March 14, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Drinking Alcohol Daily May Speed Loss of Nerve Cells in Patients’ Brains While people who smoke cigarettes are more likely to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, MS patients who are daily alcohol drinkers are more likely to show signs of faster neurodegeneration, a new study highlights. The findings suggest that quitting smoking and cutting back on alcohol would be beneficial for people…
March 11, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Worsening Disability in Absence of Relapses ‘Underestimated’ in MS A substantial amount of disability worsening happens independently of relapses in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), including those in earlier stages of relapsing-remitting disease, a study in a large patient database reported. While its findings “confirm relapses contribute to the accumulation of disability, primarily early in multiple sclerosis,” data…
March 9, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Roche and UK University Team Up to Test Floodlight App Effectiveness Roche is teaming up with the University of Plymouth in the U.K. to help develop Floodlight MS, the company’s app to monitor multiple sclerosis (MS). “We were pleased to collaborate with Roche on an innovative project to validate the Floodlight MS app and, as with everything we do…
March 8, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Immune Reaction to Milk Protein May Explain Dairy’s Link to MS Immune system reaction to casein, a protein in cow’s milk, can trigger an inflammatory neurological disease in mice that’s similar to multiple sclerosis (MS) and includes the loss of myelin, a study reported. “These results identify how consumption of milk and milk products may exacerbate the autoimmune response in…
March 4, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ACTRIMS2022 – Blood NfL Levels May Help Quantify Relapse Severity Measuring levels of the neurofilament light chain (NfL) protein in blood may be a way to “quantify” relapse severity and predict future disability in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). “Higher [blood] NfL levels during periods of active inflammation predicted more [brain] atrophy,” researchers wrote in an abstract titled…
March 3, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ACTRIMS2022 – Cognitive Training Paired With tDCS Aids Patients Electrically stimulating the brain while doing at-home cognitive training games can help to prevent a decline in cognition for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly those with more advanced disability, a study indicates. “This could lead to a therapy that can remediate cognitive impairment, we just need to optimize”…
March 3, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ACTRIMS2022 – Tolebrutinib More Potent Than Other BTK Blockers Tolebrutinib, an investigative inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) being developed by Sanofi to treat all forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), shows the potential to be more potent than other BTK inhibitors also in advanced clinical trials, scientists reported. The findings, based on preclinical data, were shared at the Americas…
March 2, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ACTRIMS2022 – Algorithm Predicts Relapse Risk Using EHR Data Using a two-step machine learning strategy, researchers have developed an algorithm to predict the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) relapse based on data gleaned from electronic health records. “The two-step machine learning model predicts a patient’s future one-year MS relapse risk with clinically actionable accuracy, comparable to other clinical…
March 2, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ACTRIMS2022 – Hormone Therapies May Benefit Menopausal MS Patients Hormonal changes over time — and especially those around menopause — are often associated with disability worsening in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, which suggests that sex-specific hormone therapies may be useful in MS treatment. Burcu Zeydan, MD, assistant professor of neurology and radiology at Mayo Clinic, provided an overview…
March 2, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ACTRIMS2022 – Ublituximab Eases Brain Lesions Better Than Aubagio The experimental medication ublituximab significantly reduces the number of new brain lesions with severe nerve cell degeneration in people with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) as compared with Aubagio (teriflunomide), according to new data from the Phase 3 ULTIMATE clinical trials. The findings showed that ublituximab induces a rapid…
March 1, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ACTRIMS2022 – Cortical Lesions Seen to Predict Disability Worsening A higher burden of lesions in the brain’s cortex is associated with a greater likelihood of disability worsening in multiple sclerosis (MS) and transition to secondary progressive MS (SPMS), researchers report. These results suggest that “monitoring cortical lesion volume … could be useful when stratifying risk of disability…
March 1, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ACTRIMS2022 – Spinal Cord Atrophy Predicts ‘Silent Progression’ in Early MS A faster rate of atrophy in the spinal cord of people in earlier stages of multiple sclerosis (MS) is likely to indicate “silent progression” — worsening disability in the absence of relapses — and a swifter conversion to secondary progressive MS (SPMS), new data show. Antje Bischof, MD, with…
February 28, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ACTRIMS2022 – Mavenclad Best at Reducing Relapses: Real-world Data People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who are treated with Mavenclad (cladribine) are less likely to experience a disease relapse than those who are treated with Gilenya (fingolimod), Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate), or Aubagio (teriflunomide), according to an analysis of real-world data. The findings were presented at the Americas Committee…
February 28, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ACTRIMS2022 – Iron Rim Lesions Linked to More Severe Disease Iron rim lesions, or specific regions of chronic inflammation seen on MRI scans of the brain, are associated with greater disability and poorer outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS), a study indicates. These findings “could support the use of iron rim lesions as an imaging biomarker for disease severity and…