Marisa Wexler, MS, senior science writer —

A first-of-its-kind study is aiming to determine whether older adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) can safely stop taking disease-modifying therapies, also known as disease-modifying agents (DMAs). The project is being led by scientists at the new P-HOPER Center, officially the Population Health Outcomes and Pharmacoepidemiology Education and Research…

With a planned merger in the works, Frequency Therapeutics is no longer advancing its remyelination therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS), and instead is exploring “strategic alternatives for the program,” the company has announced. The regenerative medicine company, which had aimed to develop a new approach to treating MS…

Since their launch in the 2010s, the use of oral disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) has increased substantially, while injectable DMTs have become less popular, according to a study based on U.S. commercial health insurance data. “While two injectable therapies known as platform injectables, were once the…

A new formulation of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), given as a 10-minute under-the-skin injection, was comparable to the approved intravenous version of the therapy in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to top-line results from a Phase 3 clinical trial. The medication’s developer, Roche, is planning to submit data from…

Inflammation in the membranes around the brain may trigger an inflammatory response that can spread into nearby brain tissue, a new study in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS) shows. Researchers say these findings may help to advance scientists’ understanding of the mechanisms that underlie brain damage in…

The biopharmaceutical company Imcyse has signed on to a new project that aims to use artificial intelligence (AI) to develop tools that can be used to better track the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS). The project’s goal is to help guide treatment decisions for MS patients. Called Clinical…

Treatment with estriol, a hormone that’s produced during pregnancy, reduced disease severity and promoted myelin repair in the cortex — a key brain region affected in multiple sclerosis (MS) — in a mouse model of the disease. Those are the main findings of the study, “Neuroprotection in cerebral…

The PoNS device — officially the Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator, designed to help improve walking ability in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) — has been granted the accreditation needed for Medicare and Medicaid coverage in the U.S., according to Helius Medical Technologies, which makes the device. That designation, called…

Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) appears to be more effective than rituximab at reducing relapse activity in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), but disability progression outcomes are comparable between the therapies, an observational study of patients reported. “Study findings suggest that the effectiveness of rituximab on MS relapses was…

It’s been three decades since the first treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) was approved. In that time, the field has made substantial advances — including the approval of over two dozen medications — but there’s still a long way to go to improve care for progressive forms of…

The protein DDX39B is a master regulator of immune tolerance, or the immune system’s ability to distinguish self from potentially harmful nonself molecules, and helps to control the development of immune cells that are key for this process, a new study shows. Findings suggest that activating DDX39B with small molecules…

For people with multiple sclerosis (MS), all forms of exercise are likely to be beneficial for physical fitness, but certain forms of exercise may be better than others at improving specific measures of fitness, according to a review of multiple clinical trials. Results suggest that resistance training — pushing…

Disease-associated inflammatory activity of microglia — a type of immune cell with a central role in the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) — is driven in part by molecular mechanisms that are activated when microglia try to clear the corpses of dead myelin-making cells. That’s according to a new…

People with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) who experienced disease activity while on oral therapies had less disease activity after switching to Kesimpta (ofatumumab), according to an analysis of data from the Phase 3 ARTIOS clinical trial. The patients previously were on Gilenya (fingolimod), or fumarate-based therapies such…

Microparticles that activate regulatory T-cells, or Tregs, an immune cell type with anti-inflammatory properties, reversed the accumulation of physical disability due to multiple sclerosis (MS) in a mouse model of the neurodegenerative disorder, a new study shows. Use of the novel strategy even cured some of the animals. “We…

Analyses of protein levels in the blood can be used to identify groups of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with distinct clinical features, new research shows. Given the variability of symptoms among people with MS, such groupings could help to improve individualized care for patients, according to Octave, a…

Long-term treatment with vidofludimus calcium (IMU-838) has been tolerated well overall among people with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), new data from an extension study show. Findings were presented at the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) Annual Meeting, in a poster titled “Assessment of Long-Term Safety…

The European Commission has approved Briumvi (ublituximab) for the treatment of adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) who have active disease, as defined by clinical or imaging features. The approval, which covers all member states in the European Union, as well as Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein,…

The average rate of relapses for multiple sclerosis (MS) in the modern era is lower than it has been in decades past, according to a new analysis from the U.K. Scientists speculate the availability of new, more effective disease-modifying therapies may help explain why relapses appear to…

Treatment with the cannabis oral spray nabiximols helped to relieve spasticity — increased muscle stiffness and spasms common in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) — among participants in two MS clinical trials, according to the results of a new analysis. “In this analysis, nabiximols was shown to significantly…

Stem cell therapy is better than Gilenya (fingolimod) or Tysabri (natalizumab) at reducing relapse rates and easing disability for people with highly active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a new analysis suggests. In contrast, findings suggest that the efficacy of stem cell therapy is not significantly different…

An updated snapshot of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the U.S. — provided by new population estimates from a study of insurance data — shows a greater prevalence of MS among white and Black people compared with other racial and ethnic groups. But overall, the neurodegenerative disorder has become more…

When the immune system launches an attack to fight off infection with the Epstein-Barr virus, immune cells can accidentally end up targeting a protein called CRYAB that’s normally expressed by healthy myelin-making cells in the brain, a study found. The findings provide further evidence that molecular similarities between distinct…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have never received treatment with a disease-modifying therapy tend to have better long-term outcomes after stem cell transplant, according to a recent report from a center in Mexico. The findings suggest that stem cell therapy may be most beneficial when given…

A newly developed laboratory model using tadpoles can help determine the remyelinating potential of new multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies via specific changes in behavior and vision tests, a new study suggests. The model may help accelerate the discovery of potential MS remyelinating therapies, and reduce the use of resources…

Blood levels of the nerve damage marker NfL seem to spike to very high levels around times of disease activity in children with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study reports. The findings support using NfL as a biomarker of disease activity, in the form of relapses or lesions, in…

Rehabilitation therapy that utilizes virtual reality can help to improve balance and reduce the fear of falling for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new analysis shows. “Our findings provide support to the use of [virtual reality-based therapy] to recover balance in neurological diseases such as MS,” researchers wrote.

Nearly half of the people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) treated early with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) in Phase 3 clinical trials showed no evidence of disease activity after up to nine years on the therapy, data show. In contrast, about one-quarter of enrolled patients who started on…

More than 80% of patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) given Kesimpta (ofatumumab) continuously for up to five years in a clinical trial did not have any documented worsening of disability over the duration of the treatment. That’s according to new data from the ongoing…

There was no evidence of multiple sclerosis (MS) disease activity for at least two years in patients who underwent an autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (aHSCT) at a center in Mexico. And by the most recent follow-up — a median of about seven years after the procedure —…