News

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a twofold higher risk of seizures compared with the general population, according to pooled data from clinical trials. Among MS patients, treatment with sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor (S1PR) modulators, a class of MS disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that includes the oral medications Gilenya (fingolimod),…

Vitamin D supplements were associated with less severe disease in a rat model of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), but male rats tended to experience greater benefits than did females, a study into disease-related sex differences reports. This higher overall benefit may be due to nerve cells in males being…

Using antibodies against a viral protein that’s needed for the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) to invade human cells was found to successfully prevent viral infections and EBV-associated cancer in mice in a new study. By identifying sites where these antibodies bind to the viral protein — called gp42 — researchers…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has designated SetPoint Medical’s neurostimulator a breakthrough device for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). This designation is intended to accelerate the development of devices intending to more effectively treat or diagnose life-threatening or chronically debilitating diseases than standard approaches.

Lumina Imaging has partnered with the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) to provide affordable brain and spinal cord MRI scans to multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The partnership makes Lumina the preferred provider for the MSAA’s MRI Access Program in northeast Ohio. The program is designed…

The Polish biotechnology company PolTREG plans to launch Phase 2 trials testing its Tregs therapy — the T-cell-based treatment PTG-007 — in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Poland later this year. The biotech company has earned a Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) certification for its new manufacturing…

A bilingual graphic educational message, dubbed VISIBL-MS, has been developed by researchers at the University of Connecticut (UConn) to raise awareness about the early symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The graphic — bearing the word “VISIBLY” in English and “VISIBLE” in Spanish — uses the letters in each phrase…

Metabolon and Cardiff University are partnering to discover new biomarkers that could help better understand disease mechanisms and develop new treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS). The project leverages Metabolon’s expertise in metabolomics, a field of research that measures all products of metabolism, called metabolites, that are made…

Treatment with rituximab, an approved CD20 inhibitor that’s sometimes used off-label for multiple sclerosis (MS), was found to adequately control the neurodegenerative disease in patients diagnosed during childhood or adolescence, a new study showed. The therapy, given by  infusion into the bloodstream, was generally safe and significantly reduced…

Getting physical exercise can improve subjective well-being and health-related quality of life for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new meta-analysis shows. “Exercise interventions, especially aerobic or combined aerobic and resistance training, should be implemented in clinical practice to promote mental health” and health-related quality of life in people…

Researchers at Stanford University have partnered with Kyverna Therapeutics to conduct an investigator-initiated clinical trial of the company’s cell-based therapy, KYV-101, in people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) without relapses. The open-label Phase 1 trial (NCT06138132) will take place at the Stanford Multiple Sclerosis…

Taking antibody-based medications for multiple sclerosis (MS) while breastfeeding does not appear to harm a child’s health or development during at least the first three years of life, according to a preliminary study of more than 180 babies. Children breastfed by mothers taking Tysabri (natalizumab), Ocrevus (ocrelizumab),…

Nearly half of all multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who participated in clinical trials — including global, pivotal studies — had one or more comorbidities, or coexisting conditions, the most common being depression and high blood pressure, a meta-analysis study found. While the rate of patients with comorbidities “may be…

In multiple sclerosis (MS), lesions in the brain may start with small clusters of immune cells called microglia, a new study reveals. Scientists are working to understand exactly how these small clusters may develop into MS lesions, which they hope could uncover new targets for treating the disease.

A model based on genetic factors could help predict the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) in people with optic neuritis, an eye disorder that can be an early sign of MS, according to new research. “As a doctor caring for many patients with optic neuritis, I’m excited by…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided not to approve an application seeking clearance of GA Depot — a long-acting formulation of glatiramer acetate — for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Importantly, this is not a rejection of the application for the…

TG Therapeutics has secured three additional U.S. patents for Briumvi (ublituximab-xiiy), an anti-CD20 antibody that’s been approved to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the patent numbers 11,807,689; 11,814,439; and 11,884,740 specifically cover the composition and…

People with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) being treated with an infusion CD20 inhibitor such as Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) can safely transition to the more recent Briumvi (ublituximab-xiiy), which is given in shorter infusion times. That’s according to data from the ENHANCE Phase 3b clinical trial…

The presence of paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs), which represent areas of damage in the brain and spinal cord with chronic active inflammation, may help identify people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who are more likely to have cognitive decline over time. That’s according to four-year data presented by Hannah Schwartz,…

The antihistamine clemastine accelerated disease progression by more than five times in some adults with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) who received it in a Phase 1/2 trial, new data show. Joanna Kocot, PhD, a neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), showed that this effect is at least…

Convelo Therapeutics is developing two experimental oral treatments to promote myelin repair in multiple sclerosis (MS) and both have shown promise in preclinical models. The company is in the final stages of safety studies in large animals. Once those studies are done, it plans to start studies that…

Nearly one year of treatment with tolebrutinib, an oral small molecule being developed by Sanofi, failed to eliminate iron rim lesions in adults with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to data from a small Phase 2 clinical trial. Researchers are continuing to examine study results to determine…

The experimental BTK inhibitor evobrutinib was no better than Aubagio (teriflunomide) at preventing relapses, reducing brain lesions, or slowing disability progression in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to data from two Phase 3 trials. Both medications had generally similar safety profiles, although increases…

Repeated treatment with the mesenchymal stem cell therapy NG-01 led to gains in mobility and cognition, along with patient-reported quality of life, for most people with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) in an extension study. Markers of nerve damage were also reduced, indicating significant nerve-protecting effects. Dimitrios Karussis, MD,…

Treatment with Immunic Therapeutics‘ experimental oral therapy vidofludimus calcium (IMU-838) lowered the levels of a nerve damage marker in people with all subtypes of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), including those without recent inflammatory activity. That’s according to an interim analysis of data from a Phase 2 study,…

About two-thirds of people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) remained completely free from relapses over six years of treatment with Zeposia (ozanimod) in the DAYBREAK clinical trial. Most also saw no sustained disability progression during that period and the mean number of new or enlarging lesions…

Multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurodegenerative disease thought to affect more than 1.8 million people globally, can impact many aspects of daily life. So for Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month, observed each March, this year’s focus is on the MS experience and the importance of social connections. Multiple Sclerosis…

Supplements of indole 3-lactate (ILA), a molecule made by gut bacteria, significantly reduced disease severity and promoted myelin repair in mouse models of multiple sclerosis (MS). That’s according to new findings presented by Larissa Jank, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University, at the Americas Committee for Treatment…

Briumvi (ublituximab-xiiy), an approved treatment for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), is now available to patients in Europe, where it’s being marketed by Neuraxpharm. The infusion therapy, developed by TG Therapeutics, was first launched in Germany, with additional rollouts following in other European countries. Under…

Two researchers from The University of Western Australia (UWA) have received grants from MS Australia for work that may help scientists better understand how an immune system gone awry can cause multiple sclerosis (MS). Belinda Kaskow, PhD, a teaching and research fellow at UWA’s School of Biomedical Sciences,…