November 3, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – New Analyses Say Ublituximab Is Superior to Aubagio The experimental therapy ublituximab works better than the approved treatment Aubagio (teriflunomide) at easing disability independently of relapses, and at reducing overall disease activity, in adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). That’s according to exploratory analyses of pooled data from the identical ULTIMATE I…
November 2, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – Analyses Weigh Stem Cell Transplant Versus DMTs Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (aHSCT) is superior to Gilenya (fingolimod) and Tysabri (natalizumab) at preventing relapses and reducing disability in people with highly active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). In turn, aHSCT appears to be as effective as Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) in RRMS patients and also was…
November 2, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – 2 Brain Lesion Types Linked to Greater Disability Recently diagnosed multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with two forms of chronic active brain lesions — slowly expanding lesions (SELs) and paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs) — on their MRI scans experience greater disability progression than those with SELs only, a small study suggests. Also, the slowly expanding lesions are…
November 1, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – Tecfidera Lowers Risk of 1st Symptoms in RIS in Trial Treatment with Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) significantly reduces the risk of experiencing the first multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms in adults with radiologically isolated syndrome (RIS), according to data from a Phase 4 clinical trial. RIS is a condition in which patients have MS-like lesions on MRI scans, but…
October 31, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – Relapse-free Progression Evident in Pediatric MS Disability progression in the absence of relapses is less common in children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS) than among people with adult-onset disease, according to data covering more than 5,000 patients with relapsing forms of MS. Nevertheless, this form of progression — called progression independent of relapse activity,…
October 28, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – Long-term Gilenya Reduces Pediatric Relapses Long-term treatment with Gilenya (fingolimod) continues to be safe and lower the rate of relapses in children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS) more than Avonex (interferon beta-1a) does. That’s according to up to six years of data from the ongoing PARADIGMS Phase 3 trial (NCT01892722), wherein…
October 27, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – Study Examines Ocrevus Use Before, During Pregnancy Treatment with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) before or during pregnancy does not seem to increase the risk of major pregnancy or infant complications, with 79% of the pregnancies leading to live births, according to data from more than 2,000 women with multiple sclerosis (MS). The results were shared at the 38th…
October 26, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – 2-year Ocrevus Effective for Early MS Patients: Data Nearly 80% of people with early-stage relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) show no evidence of disease activity after two years of treatment with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), according to updated data from the ENSEMBLE Phase 3b trial. More than 88% of the patients were negative for MRI activity, meaning they…
September 2, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Delayed Ocrevus Infusion May Increase MRI-based RRMS Risk An extended interval between maintenance doses of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) may increase the risk of MRI-based disease activity in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to a real-world, multicenter study in Italy. In fact, an extended interval dosing (by one month or longer) was associated with a fivefold higher risk…
August 30, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Long-term Ponvory Treatment Safe, Effective in RRMS, Trial Data Show Long-term treatment with Ponvory (ponesimod) safely and effectively reduces the rate of relapses, slows disability worsening, and prevents brain volume decline in adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). That’s according to eight years of data from patients enrolled in a now-completed Phase 2 clinical trial (NCT01006265) and its…
August 29, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD TRE-515 Appears to Block Immune Cell Attacks in Mouse Study An experimental oral therapy called TRE-515 significantly reduced disease severity and the growth of the abnormal immune cells that drive multiple sclerosis (MS) in two mouse models of the disease, a study found. Notably, the efficacy of Trethera Corp.’s potential treatment, administered either in a preventive or therapeutic…
August 23, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD For Pregnant MS Patients, No Added Risk of Infant Growth Deficits: Study Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) are not at a higher risk of their babies having growth deficits during pregnancy or after birth than individuals without the disease, a study suggests. Yet, the data showed women with MS are significantly more likely to deliver their babies by cesarean section (C-section)…
August 22, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD MS Spasticity Therapy Baclofen Helps to Repair Myelin: Early Study Baclofen, an approved therapy for spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, promoted the repair of myelin — the protective sheath around nerve fibers that’s progressively lost in MS — in a mouse model of the disease, a study showed. These findings suggest baclofen — sold as oral tablets,…
August 22, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Oral Therapy TRE-515 Wins Orphan Drug Status for Optic Neuritis in US The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to Trethera Corporation’s experimental oral therapy TRE-515 for demyelinating optic neuritis, an eye condition that may progress to multiple sclerosis (MS) or occur during the disease course. The first-in-class therapy is expected to lessen the inflammation…
August 18, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Study Uncovers How Interferon-beta May Be Helping to Treat MS Researchers have discovered how interferon-beta, a common treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), may be effective for people with the disease. Specifically, they found that red blood cells from MS patients have an unusually high ability to bind molecules that contribute to disease-related impairments in neuronal health and myelin repair,…
August 17, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD CNM-Au8 Lessens Vision Problems in RRMS Patients in Phase 2 Trial CNM-Au8, Clene Nanomedicine’s experimental oral therapy, safely and effectively improves vision and neurological function in adults with stable relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and disease-related visual impairment. Those are the findings of the VISIONARY-MS Phase 2 clinical trial (NCT03536559), a proof-of-concept study that investigated CNM-Au8 in people with…
July 28, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Calyx, Qynapse to Expand Use of Neuroimaging AI Tools Calyx and Qynapse have joined forces to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based neuroimaging tools in clinical trials of treatment candidates for conditions affecting the central nervous system (CNS), or the brain and spinal cord. This is expected to help advance therapy development for multiple sclerosis…
July 7, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Higher COVID-19 Risk Tied to 2 MS Therapies, Even With Vaccination Fully vaccinated multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who are treated with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) or Gilenya (fingolimod) have a significantly higher risk of COVID-19 infection than those given other immunosuppressive therapies, according to a study in Italy. Called breakthrough infections, these post-vaccination cases of SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes…
June 24, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD NICE Updates Its Guidelines for MS Management The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England has updated its guidelines for the diagnosis and management of adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). Called Multiple sclerosis in adults: management, the new guidelines update and replace the 2014 recommendations and are meant to be followed by…
June 23, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Biogen Secures Tecfidera Patent in EU Until 2028; Generics Not Likely Biogen has secured a new patent in Europe covering the use of its oral therapy Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) for multiple sclerosis (MS) through 2028, the company announced. Granted by the European Patent Office, patent EP2653873 covers the composition and use of dimethyl fumarate at a dose of 480…
June 14, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Find Therapeutics, SATT Conectus Team to Develop New MS Therapy Find Therapeutics and SATT Conectus have joined forces to develop a promising therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) and optic neuritis based on a new class of compounds that shows the potential to regenerate myelin. Myelin is the fatty protective sheath around nerve fibers that’s progressively lost…
June 9, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD PoNS Device Improves Walking Skills Early On, New Data Show Using the portable neuromodulation stimulator (PoNS) device during a targeted exercise program significantly improves walking skills in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to recent real-word data. Notably, significant improvements were observed from the second week onward, and more than half of the 42 patients patients experienced clinically meaningful gains…
June 6, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Phase 1/2 Trial Is Testing Cutting-edge Immunotherapy in MS Patients A Phase 1/2 clinical trial is evaluating the safety and effectiveness of a cutting-edge immunotherapy called extracorporeal photopheresis in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The study, dubbed PHOMS (NCT05168384), is enrolling up to 45 adults with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and secondary progressive MS (SPMS) at a…
June 3, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Lyvispah, Dissolvable Form of Baclofen, Now Available in US Lyvispah — a dissolvable granular formulation of baclofen — is now commercially available in the U.S. for adults and adolescents, 12 and older, with spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other spinal cord disorders. In people with MS, the strawberry-flavored formulation is particularly suitable to ease flexor…
May 31, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Mayzent and Kesimpta Gaining Ground as MS Treatments in Canada Novartis’ Mayzent (siponimod) and Kesimpta (ofatumumab) are gaining ground among multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies in Canada, according to the latest Spherix Global Insights’ report. “Following an eventful 2021 that included the launch of two new brands — Novartis’ Kesimpta and BMS’ Zeposia — and generic versions of Biogen’s…
May 25, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD ‘Silent Progression’ in Relapsing MS Linked to Significant Brain Atrophy People with relapsing multiple sclerosis who have disability progression, but no clinical relapses, show significantly faster brain shrinkage, or atrophy, than those with a stable disease, a study shows. There were no significant differences in the brain atrophy rate between patients with progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) and…
May 24, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD High Adherence to Rebif Seen With RebiSmart Use, Chats With Doctor Regular feedback from doctors about dosing data and health status is associated with high and sustained treatment adherence to Rebif (interferon beta-1a) among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients using the RebiSmart autoinjector, a two-year observational study shows. This study’s level of treatment adherence — 97.9% — was comparable or superior to the…
May 20, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Progressive MS, Degree of Disability Increase Infection Risk People with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and those with greater MS-related disability have a significantly greater risk of serious infections relative to people without the disease, according to a population-based study in Sweden. Notably, these associations were observed regardless of the use of disease-modifying therapies, many…
May 16, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Copaxone Appears Safe for Infants Whose Mothers Breastfeed: Study Taking Copaxone (glatiramer acetate), an approved therapy for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), while breastfeeding does not appear to be harmful to infants during their first 18 months, according to a real-life study in Germany called COBRA. “In this study, we compared the development of 120 children in total, whose…
May 12, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Stress-reducing Activities Linked to Lower Risk of Depression, Fatigue Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients undertaking stress-reducing activities — particularly physical and relaxation activities or meditation — at least once a week are less likely to have depression, an international study shows. Additional links were found between physical activity and reduced risk of fatigue, and between meditation and a greater…