News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics‘ request to open a Phase 2 clinical trial testing the safety and effectiveness of its proprietary NurOwn mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) treatment in progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The request was in the form of Investigational New Drug…

Alkermes filed a request for the approval of diroximel fumarate (BIIB098) to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If approved, diroximel fumarate will be marketed by Biogen in the U.S., likely under the brand name Vumerity. Alkermes and Biogen are working…

Pretreating multiple sclerosis patients with antihistamines more extensively and with hydration can significantly reduce — by 60% — the likelihood of infusion-associated reactions that are the most common side effect of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) use, a pilot study reported. Data also found that older and male MS patients are less likely to have…

Inactivation of S1PR2, a cell surface protein, helps improve clinical disability and reduce demyelination in a mouse model of experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE), a condition similar to multiple sclerosis (MS) in humans, a study shows. This finding suggests that therapies blocking S1PR2 could have the potential to treat MS. The…

Risk factors often associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), such as genetic background, obesity and smoking, contribute independently to the disease’s variability and may be an early influence on progression, a study reported. The retrospective study, “Multiple sclerosis risk factors contribute to onset heterogeneity,” was published in the journal …

Many multiple sclerosis (MS) patients report that cannabis has beneficial effects on their symptoms with minimal side effects, according to a survey that also showed that varying effects on health may be due to differences in how users consume cannabis. Findings from the survey were reported in the…

Researchers at the Ural Federal University (UrFU) in Russia have developed a neuro-electrostimulation system that has the potential to treat different types of brain disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS). The system allows physicians to treat patients by remotely controlling the delivered electric pulse through a smartphone or tablet. Details…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who have been relapse-free while using an interferon-beta (IFN-β) therapy but switch to another IFN-β are significantly more like to start experiencing flares than patients who remain on their initial interferon treatment, a real-world study reports. Its results support letting patients remain on a current IFN-β medication…

Lipoic acid (LA), an over-the-counter antioxidant supplement, helps to mildly delay a decline in walking speed in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) patients, particularly those with lesser disability, analysis of a small, two-year clinical study reports. No improvements were seen in balance among…

As debate continues about the effects of medical marijuana on multiple sclerosis (MS) and other diseases, cannabis company GB Sciences and Louisiana State University (LSU) have agreed on a cannabinoid research and development project. This collaboration between a public and a private enterprise is a first in the therapeutic cannabis…

Ocrevus (ocrelizumab, by Genentech) is now available through the National Health System (NHS) of Scotland to treat patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The decision by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) to approve Ocrevus’ inclusion for this patient group follows the recommendation made earlier by the U.K.’s…

Pendopharm’s Glatect (glatiramer acetate) — a treatment for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) — has been added to the public drug plan in the Canadian province of British Columbia, and is now the only glatiramer-based treatment for RRMS patients there using the plan. After Copaxone…

The Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (WUSTL) will create a new research center to investigate and advance the development of tracers for positron emission tomography (PET) scans. The center, which will be established at WUSTL’s Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR), is going to focus on the…

Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, were seen to change throughout the lifespan of mice in a study — and to be diverse, with distinct cell subtypes. Those with pro-inflammatory behavior may be disease-causing, as they were found to accumulate in the brains of a mouse model of…

With a renowned researcher and her team chosen to lead it, work can now begin on the first project of its kind in Canada designed to shed more light on multiple sclerosis progression, and better ways of diagnosing and treating it. Leading the pioneering $7 million project — the Canadian…

Tysabri (natalizumab) was found to be superior to interferon beta (IFN-β) in a small, 12-month study with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients, significantly decreasing their disability levels, its researchers report. A vast majority — 90 percent — of Tysabri-treated patients experienced no relapses during the study period,…

When I first met Stephanie in March, she was like any healthy 28-year-old coming in to see me for a nutrition consult. Her positive attitude and bright smile filled the room as she told me about her job as a grade school teacher and the new apartment she…

Aubagio (teriflunomide) has become the first once-a-day, oral disease-modifying therapy (DMT) for multiple sclerosis (MS) to be approved for use in India. Sanofi Genzyme’s therapy is indicated for first-line treatment of relapsing MS. It should be taken each day with or without food, and patients in India will have…

Non-viral vehicles, called niosomes, can deliver DNA to glial cells in the central nervous system, a new study shows. The findings open new avenues for gene therapy and the treatment of neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS). The study “Non-viral vectors based on cationic niosomes as efficient gene delivery…

Palliative care in a hospital setting rose 30 fold among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the U.S. from 2005 to 2014, and was associated with longer hospital stays and greater numbers of in-hospital deaths but also lower overall costs, according to a large data study. Increased reliance on such care…

Aspirin, administered orally at low doses, was sufficient to suppress multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms in a mouse model of relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and chronic MS, a study reports. The clinical benefits of aspirin were linked to an increase in the number of regulatory T-cells, those responsible for shutting…

A potentially life-threatening case of bleeding in the lungs has been reported and attributed to treatment with Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) by a woman with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Her medical team found diffuse alveolar hemorrhage in this patient — which resolved in about a week without treatment. The scientists advised that clinicians be alert…

Patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) on Rebif (interferon beta 1-a), using the RebiSmart autoinjector, have high treatment adherence, despite seasonal weather or temperature fluctuations, as well as fewer relapses over one year, a real-world study reports. The study, “Seasonal adherence to, and effectiveness of,…

The formation of new myelin sheaths by oligodendrocytes is impaired in the absence of a small molecule, called Vav3, that oversees pathways regulating the shape of oligodendrocytes, new study reports. Its researchers pinpoint Vav3 as a potential therapeutic target to improve and speed myelin repair in diseases like multiple sclerosis…

A musician, a member of Parliament, and the Multiple Sclerosis Society in the United Kingdom have joined forces to increase awareness on the social isolation that often accompanies multiple sclerosis (MS). The campaign grew from the society’s research, which found that up to 60 percent of MS patients, or…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a safety alert, warning about a rare but life-threatening risk of stroke and artery rupture in patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) being treated with Lemtrada (alemtuzumab). Since Lemtrada’s approval in 2014 to treat relapsing MS, 13…

Gilenya (fingolimod) was approved by the European Commission as a treatment for children and adolescents, ages 10 to 17, with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), Novartis announced. The therapy is already approved in Europe to treat RRMS patients 18 and older. With this newest decision, Gilenya has become…

The U.S. Congress is supporting with $5 million the National Neurological Conditions Surveillance System (NNCSS), an initiative to be launched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help researchers better understand who develops neurological disorders and why. The NNCSS was authorized by Congress as a part…

Mature, adult oligodendrocytes can reacquire their ability to produce myelin to replace the ones lost in diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) without undergoing a stem cell-like state, a new study shows. Myelin is the fat-rich substance that wraps around nerve fiber projections (axons) protecting them and increasing the speed of…

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), the type of stem cells present in many tissues of adults, may be manipulated to fight inflammation and used as a cell therapy to treat inflammatory diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), a study reports. In the future, researchers plan to use animal models to…