News

EMD Serono, the U.S. and Canadian subsidiary and biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, focuses exclusively on specialty care. With expertise in fertility, endocrinology, oncology and neurology, the company is featuring several innovative products with therapeutic potential in the oncology, immuno-oncology, and immunology fields. Rebif (interferon beta-1a), EMD Serono’s therapy for patients with relapsing…

A symposium focused on lifestyle factors and unconventional medicine as part of the clinical care provided to patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) took place today at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC). The symposium, “Expanding the MS Toolkit: Integrating Lifestyle Factors and Unconventional Medicine…

Biogen, announced that TYSABRI, a drug developed to treat people with multiple sclerosis (MS) has received a positive opinion from the European Medicine Agency (EMA) recommending its approval to be used in people with elapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

Dr. Fred Lublin, a renowned multiple sclerosis (MS) expert at Mount Sinai Medical Center, helped launch the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) 2016 Annual Meeting, June 1 – 4, in National Harbor, Md. with the John F. Kurtzke Memorial Lecture he titled “Do Relapses Really Matter?” “How relapses influence disease worsening,…

The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) 2016 Annual Meeting began today, June 1. Multiple Sclerosis News Today is providing extensive on-site coverage of the meeting, reporting on presentations, and conducting exclusive interviews with top researchers in the field of multiple sclerosis (MS) and with biopharmaceutical representatives on the latest advances in MS therapies.

Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) ithree institute are taking a novel approach in an attempt to halt disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS). The scientists are planning to explore the anti-inflammatory potential of a controlled infection by parasitic worms as a way of preventing the harmful over-inflammation observed in MS and…

Researchers detected the expression of the gene ANKRD55  in immune cells, a gene that has been previously linked to multiple sclerosis (MS) in mice models of the disease. The results suggest a potential role of ANKRD55 in MS pathogenesis. The study, “Novel Insights into the Multiple Sclerosis Risk Gene ANKRD55,”…

Zinbryta (daclizumab) was approved May 27 for the treatment of adults with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared Biogen’s new long-acting injection as a patient self-administered monthly therapy. The director of Neurology Products at the U.S. FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation…

Data from an extension phase of a Phase 3 clinical trial, given in an oral presentation by MedDay, reported that the biotin  MD1003 showed effectiveness over time as a possible treatment of non-active, progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). The data were presented at the recent 2nd Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) in Denmark by Professor Ayman Tourbah,…

Multiple Sclerosis News Today will provide extended on-site coverage of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) 2016 Annual Meeting June 1-4 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, across the harbor from the nation’s capital. Our news team will be posting feature articles on presentations…

A new report by the Conference Board of Canada’s Canadian Alliance for Sustainable Health Care (CASHC) notes that employers and the Canadian government are not giving enough support towards increasing workforce participation among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), despite the clear benefits such support would mean to not only the well-being of individuals…

The Russian Ministry of Health recently granted Marketing Authorization (ЛП-003567) to R-Pharm JSC for the development of  “Glatirat” (Glatiramer acetate), a drug intended for the treatment of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and clinically isolated syndrome. According to a press release, the registration of “Glatirat” was based…

Sanofi Genzyme recently launched vs.MS, a global initiative to raise awareness of the often unspoken physical and emotional burden of relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) on people living with the disease and their care partners. On World MS Day yesterday, the company called on the MS community to learn more about the…

A bicycle specially designed to mimic the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) now has its own owner’s manual, and the group behind the bike’s creation is inviting anyone interested to build their own experience of the spasticity and physical discomforts so well-known to people with the disease. The manual, which…

Mitochon Pharmaceuticals announced the completion of a second year of financing, raising a total $1.6 million to advance its lead compound, MP101, a mitochondrial targeted neuro-protective agent, into clinical testing. The company is developing mitochondrial modulators for patients with neurodegenerative diseases ranging from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to multiple sclerosis (MS). A number of studies have…

Yissum Research Development Company, an arm of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has entered into an agreement with Aurum Ventures MKI to develop a diagnostic blood test for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and a range of other diseases, which uses differences in DNA from dying cells found in the blood of sick individuals.

The University of California (UC) San Diego School of Medicine and Chiba University School of Medicine, Japan, are working together to establish a new center for immunology research, with a particular focus on the microbiome and mucosal immune responses that are known to play a crucial role in a variety of diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS). “This…

A mutation in a mouse model of the John Cunningham (JC) virus, which causes progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), allows the virus to evade the host immune responses in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study into the mechanisms of PML. Infection with the JC virus most often passes unnoticed in healthy…

Researchers at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, recently showed that peripheral blood cells loaded with a drug that resembles the myelin protein are able to inhibit harmful immune responses and prevent relapses in a mouse model of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings were described in the study “…

With the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) 2016 fast approaching, Multiple Sclerosis News Today sat down with a man of far-reaching interest in multiple sclerosis (MS)  — Dr. Rick Munschauer, Vice President of Medical Affairs, Neurology and Immunology at…

ReWalk Robotics, Ltd., announced it is partnering with the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University to further develop and test lightweight exoskeleton systems for people with disabilities affecting their lower limbs, including those with multiple sclerosis (MS). “This is a very exciting day for the soft suit technology,” Conor Walsh, a…

Holidays abroad may hold the key to tackling Scotland’s vitamin D deficiency, a University of Edinburgh study suggests. The study, “Farming, Foreign Holidays, and Vitamin D in Orkney,” was published in the journal PloS One. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, complex disease…

Previous studies suggested that multiple sclerosis (MS) and Hodgkin lymphoma might share underlying causes, including exposure to microorganisms in childhood, such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. In the study “Multiple sclerosis and risk of young-adult-onset Hodgkin lymphoma,” published in the journal Neurology: Neuroimmunology and Neuroinflammation, researchers suggested that…

A case report of a woman with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), who developed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) after natalizumab therapy, found that the immune-boosting molecule interleukin-2 (IL-2) might be a viable therapeutic option to fight this life-threatening complication although further study is needed. The case report, “Use of interleukin-2 for…

Children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS) differ from others in the composition of their gut flora, with higher levels of inflammation-causing bacteria and lower levels of anti-inflammatory bacteria, according to a study from  the University of British Columbia, Canada. The findings, supporting previous hypotheses that the composition of the gut microbial community could influence the development…

Sanofi Genzyme announced that it entered into a research collaboration with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to better understand the underlying causes of disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS). Sanofi Genzyme has a number of research partnerships with MS academic medical centers, focused on exploring the pathogenesis of MS and potential new…

The first U.K. clinical trials of robotic legs that might allow people with mobility impairment to move — hands-free — are underway at the University of Kent. Clinicians and engineers at Kent are carrying out the study in a partnership with the East Kent Hospital’s University Foundation Trust…

Researchers investigating immune B-cell response to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) found that it may correlate with the amount of brain-specific B-cells in the blood — a marker of multiple sclerosis (MS) — and with higher disease activity. The findings were published in the journal Viruses, in…

Mitoxantrone,  a multiple sclerosis (MS)  drug that is already associated with a higher risk for leukemia and heart damage, may also raise a person’s risk of colorectal cancer, researchers at the University of Würzburg, in Germany, reported. If confirmed in larger studies, the findings indicate that colonoscopies should be conducted on MS patients after…

With an interest multiple sclerosis (MS) before even starting college, Dr. Ellen Mowry has spent her entire research career investigating the disease. Her epidemiological studies led her to indications that vitamin D might be particularly important for people with MS, and she now dedicates her research to the topic — knowledge she will share at the…