September 14, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #MSVirtual2020 – Cardiovascular Risk Factors Linked to Brain Shrinkage In people with multiple sclerosis (MS) under age 50, the presence of cardiovascular risk factors is associated with a greater loss of brain volume, including white and grey matter, a study showed. The brain’s white matter mainly consists of nerve fibers and is typically affected by MS, while…
September 14, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #MSVirtual2020 – Early Intensive DMT Use in RRMS Appears More Effective Than Escalation Early use of high efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) is more effective than the traditional approach — that of an escalating treatment regimen — at delaying disability progression in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a real-life study from Italy reports. People later moving to more aggressive treatment also appeared…
September 11, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #MSVirtual2020 – Roche Launches Phase 3 Clinical Program to Test Fenebrutinib Roche has launched a Phase 3 clinical trial program to evaluate fenebrutinib, its investigational oral BTK inhibitor, in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS). Data on fenebrutinib’s potency and selectivity, as well as the design of the clinical…
September 11, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #MSVirtual2020 – Novartis to Present Latest Data on Kesimpta, Mayzent and Gilenya Novartis will present the latest clinical data on three of its approved multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies — Kesimpta (ofatumumab), Mayzent (siponimod), and Gilenya (fingolimod) — at the MSVirtual2020 meeting that opens today. The 8th joint meeting of the Americas Committee for Treatment and…
September 10, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #MSVirtual2020 – Ponesimod Superior to Aubagio in Delaying Disability Progression in Relapsing MS, Trial Data Show Janssen Pharmaceuticals’ investigational oral therapy ponesimod is superior to Sanofi’s Aubagio (teriflunomide) in delaying disability progression in adults with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to exploratory analyses of OPTIMUM clinical trial data. These and other findings from Janssen’s MS research program, including on the health…
September 9, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD COVID-19 Pandemic Had Minimal Emotional Impact in Progressive MS Patients, Survey Finds While the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the psychological well-being of people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), it led to minimal changes in depression, anxiety, and quality of life, according to data from an international survey. This was true even for the 4% of patients who reported…
September 9, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #MSVirtual2020 — No Evidence of Disease Activity Seen in Most RRMS Patients After Switching to Ocrevus, Data Show Switching to Genentech’s Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) following suboptimal treatment responses significantly lessens symptoms and leads to high rates of no evidence of disease activity in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to data from a Phase 3b clinical trial. That finding, as well as data about patients’ adherence and…
September 4, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #MSVirtual2020 – Meeting Focus Is on Advances in MS Research, Diagnostics, and Technology The upcoming MSVirtual2020 meeting, the largest international conference dedicated to multiple sclerosis (MS) research, will focus on advances and breakthroughs made in MS causes and risk factors, diagnostic tools, treatment response biomarkers, technology, and therapies and interventions. The 8th joint meeting of the Americas Committee for Treatment and…
September 3, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #MSVirtual2020 – Zeposia Still Prevents Relapses in Relapsing MS Patients After 3 Years, Trial Data Show Zeposia (ozanimod) oral capsules continue to safely and effectively prevent relapses and disability progression in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to three-year data from a Phase 3 extension clinical trial. “Gaining insight into long-term therapeutic outcomes can enable clinicians to identify the most appropriate…
September 2, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Migraine Present in 30% of MS Patients, Review Study Finds Migraine occurs in one third of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and is more common among American and African patients, according to a review study. The data support previous findings suggesting this debilitating condition is more common in MS patients than in the general population. Further research is…
August 28, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Gut Bacteria Working in Concert May Promote MS, Early Study Suggests Two specific bacteria present together in the gut led to more immune attacks on myelin and harsher symptoms in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS). These findings add to existing evidence supporting the link between gut microbiota and MS, and highlight the need to consider potential combined effects of these…
August 26, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Infection Risk Higher for Ocrevus Than Rituximab, But Cancer Risk Lower Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), a second-generation anti-CD20 antibody, may be associated with a greater risk of infections. But it carries a lower risk of cancer and immune reactions than first-generation rituximab in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a real-life study. The higher incidence of infections linked with Ocrevus’…
August 20, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Cashew Molecule Promotes Remyelination, Halts Disease Progression in MS Mice Anacardic acid, a compound found in cashew nuts, promoted myelin regeneration and eased neuronal damage and disability in two mouse models of multiple sclerosis (MS). These protective effects were associated with maturation of myelin-producing cells and production of IL-33, an immune-related molecule with a neuroreparative role in the central…
August 17, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Blocking Protein, Reelin, Seen to Protect Immune System From Inflammation Lowering levels of a protein called reelin — which regulates how permeable blood vessels are to immune cells — reduced infiltration of these cells into the central nervous system (CNS), preventing neuroinflammation and disease progression in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS). These data, which also showed that Reelin…
August 13, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Breastfeeding Appears Safe While Being Treated for Postpartum Relapse The corticosteroid methylprednisolone is detected at low, safe levels in the breast milk of women with multiple sclerosis (MS) during and after intravenous (into-the-vein) treatment for a postpartum relapse, according to a small study in Turkey. While these findings suggest that women can safely breastfeed their child during and shortly after…
August 11, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Rituximab More Effective Than Gilenya, Tecfidera, and Comparable to Tysabri, Study Finds Rituximab is more effective and leads to fewer treatment discontinuations in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) than Gilenya (fingolimod) and Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate), according to real-world data based on two years of therapy. Rituximab’s effectiveness appeared to be comparable to that of Tysabri (natalizumab), but with fewer…
July 31, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Order Seen in Motor Skills Affected by MS, With Walking Taking First Hit Walking abilities decline earlier and faster than arm and hand function in people recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly those with progressive MS (MS), a study showed. These findings, which are consistent with those reported in a previous natural history study called NARCOMS, suggest an ascending order of…
July 30, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Healthy Diet May Lower Risk of Relapse After 1st Myelin Attack, Study Suggests A “prudent” diet rich in fresh fruit, non-fried fish, whole grains, vegetables, and nuts may lower the likelihood of a relapse in people with a first demyelinating event, a major risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS), a study in Australia suggests. While the researchers did not find a strong link…
July 22, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Way of Identifying Neurons Essential to Walking, Other Abilities Found Researchers developed a way of using machine learning to identify those cells most important for a given function or task, such as movement, and for evaluating how they respond to potentially restorative treatments. Using Augur, as this method is called, the team was able to identify the neural circuits in…
July 16, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuticals’ Lead Candidate, EmtinB, Shows Promise in Preclinical Model of MS NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuticals (NSB)’s lead candidate EmtinB induces significantly greater myelin regeneration in a cellular model of multiple sclerosis (MS) than the market-leading therapy Copaxone, the company announced. “These results represent a potential breakthrough in the treatment of MS as there are currently no approved therapeutic drugs available to patients that…
July 7, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Study: Mavenclad Shows Long-term Effectiveness at Preventing MS Relapses, Disease Progression Mavenclad (cladribine) prevents relapses and disease progression in more than half of patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) for at least five years after the last dose, according to a real-life study from Italy. These findings, based on real-world data from Italian MS patients previously treated…
July 6, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Tecfidera Safe and Effective in Hispanic/Latino MS Patients, Real-world Data Show Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) is as safe and effective in Hispanic/Latino multiple sclerosis (MS) patients as it is in their non-Hispanic and non-Latino peers, three-year data from a real-world study show. These interim findings, based on the largest group of Tecfidera-treated Hispanic and Latino MS patients studied to date, support the therapy’s…
June 15, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Experts Clarify Concepts of MS States to Improve Patient Care, Clinical Trials An international committee of multiple sclerosis (MS) experts further clarified how guidelines, updated in 2013, should be used to classify this disease’s different states, and stressed the importance of measuring these states in a timely and consistent manner. The group’s statement, “The 2013 clinical course descriptors…
June 9, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Blood Factors Impair Metabolism of Blood-brain Barrier in MS, Study Suggests Molecules in the blood of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients promote a pro-inflammatory state and impair the metabolism and integrity of the blood-brain barrier, a study suggests. In MS, the disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) — a highly selective and protective membrane — allows immune cells to reach the central nervous…
May 14, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Progressive MS Linked to Faster Retinal Atrophy, Study Shows People with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) have faster and disease-modifying therapy (DMT)-resistant retinal atrophy (thinning), compared to those with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), a study shows. Data also highlighted that the thickness of deeper layers of the retina could be used as potential biomarkers of neurodegeneration in…
May 12, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Spasticity Scales May Not Reflect Sativex Benefits in MS Patients, Study Suggests Sativex (nabiximols) eases spasticity-associated symptoms in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, including those with no significant improvements in a validated spasticity scale, according to a large study from Italy. The findings support previous studies suggesting that spasticity scales may not be enough to evaluate patients’ responses to Sativex and to…
May 12, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD COVID-19 May Not Be Severe in MS Patients, Early Data from Italy Suggest People with multiple sclerosis (MS) may not be at higher risk of developing a severe COVID-19 infection, according to preliminary data from patients in Italy. “At the moment, these results seem to be quite reassuring for most people with MS,” Marco Salvetti, MD, PhD, professor at Sapienza…
May 6, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD COVID-19 Infection Not Severe in PPMS Patient on Ocrevus, Case Report Finds COVID-19 infection in a multiple sclerosis (MS) patient being treated with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) — an immunosuppressive therapy — was not associated with any serious complications, a case study reports. This finding supports current suggestions that immunosuppressive therapies, by dampening immune and inflammatory responses, may help to protect…
April 20, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD ‘Chaperone’ Protein’s Lack Tied to Myelin Injury, Autoimmune Disease in Mouse Study The lack of a “chaperone” protein — called HLA-DO — that helps to protect the body against threats by presenting specific molecules (antigens) to immune cells to drive a response, promoted the development of a self-reactive immune system and autoimmune disease, according to a study in mice. Particularly, the work showed…
April 14, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Researchers Shed Light on Anti-inflammatory Effects of Vitamin D Supplements in MS Vitamin D supplements promote a shift toward an anti-inflammatory state in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) through an increase of two key molecules, IL-27 and TGF-beta 1, a study shows. These findings add another level of regulation to a previous model linking the intake of vitamin…