Cambridge, Massachusetts based Genzyme announced Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the company’s new drug Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) for treatment of people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, which includes people who experience periodic MS attacks, such as those who have relapsing-remitting MS or secondary-progressive…
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Upper limb spasticity and lower leg cramps and spasms, two conditions that affect patients with multiple sclerosis, are being treated in separate clinical trials with results from both showing positive benefits. Dysport (abobotulinumtoxinA), from Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., and transient receptor potential (TRP) activators, from…
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the company that developed the injectable multiple sclerosis treatment Copaxone (Glatiramer acetate), has announced their pursuit of regulatory approval in Japan. This development comes a year after signing an agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. According to a…
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is trying to assess the possibility of predicting good and bad days for people suffering with multiple sclerosis (MS) and help them to achieve a higher quality of life. The four-week pilot program enrolled almost 100 participants that wore a body sensor patch,…
Oceans of Hope, a 67-foot sail yacht currently docked at North Cove Marina, New York, is on a round-the-world voyage to become the first ship to ever circumnavigate with a crew of people who have Multiple Sclerosis. The voyage, initiated by Sailing Sclerosis Foundation, set sail from Copenhagen, Denmark…
New Zealand and Australia-based Innate Immunotherapeutics Limited, a medical biotechnology company with offices in Sydney and Auckland, has issued an update regarding its Phase 2B trial for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) and other recent activities. The Phase 2B MIS416 trial Patient dosing with MIS416…
One of the country’s leading non-profit multiple sclerosis organizations, the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA), has just launched a new patient support website called, My MS Journey. It is a comprehensive online resource designed to answer the specific and varied needs of MS patients, whether they have…
In a study entitled “Developmental endothelial locus-1 is a homeostatic factor in the central nervous system limiting neuroinflammation and demyelination” the authors report to have found a new protein, Del-1, that reduces the severity of multiple sclerosis disease in a mouse model of the disease. The…
What may be overlooked in relating to and caring for patients with multiple sclerosis is the fact that the neurodegenerative disease sometimes affects a person’s ability to properly convey and perceive emotion. According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), while there is not…
A team of researchers at the Tel Aviv University report the role of obesity as a major risk factor triggering and maintaining autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn’s Disease and multiple sclerosis. The study was published in Autoimmunity Reviews. In autoimmune diseases, the immune system reacts against the body…
Patients who suffer from progressive conditions, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), are submitted to unnecessary evaluations for disability benefits and often denied the full payment of their out-of-work benefits or deemed as fit to work when they are in fact not able. This new perspective was highlighted by a…
Photo From University of Alberta The company behind FDA-approved multiple sclerosis drug AVONEX® (Interferon beta-1a), Biogen Idec, together with the government of the province of Alberta, has…
Drug manufacturers Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Active Biotech announced that they expanding the ongoing clinical research program for the study of laquinimod, a potential treatment for primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), as the companies are now initiating the ARPEGGIO trial. In addition, Teva has also announced…
Sanofi subsidiary and rare disease treatment specialist Genzyme has just announced the successful enrollment of the first participant in their multicenter Phase II clinical trial for the company’s pipeline intravenous drug for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), vatelizumab. This novel drug is composed of humanized monoclonal antibodies that specifically target…
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society recently awarded MS researcher Lauren Strober, PhD from the Kessler Foundation, a three-year grant for her investigational research, totaling $457,921. The funding is part of a multi-site study that will be conducted by the investigator to understand the influence that having…
A study entitled “Longitudinal Follow-up of a Cohort of Patients with Incidental Abnormal Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings at Presentation and Their Risk of Developing Multiple Sclerosis” published in the International Journal of MS Care reports that asymptomatic patients accompanied by Magnetic Resonance Images suggestive of…
A study presented at the 61st annual meeting of the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) held October 29 to November 1 in Savannah, Georgia, further corroborates growing awareness of a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in neuromuscular disease.’ The study, entitled “…
An encouraging experimental drug that is being developed for Multiple Sclerosis continues to show promise in being able to offer neuroprotective benefits — an effect that could slow and eventually cure MS. Masitinib, which is being developed by AB Science for numerous neurological indications, including Alzheimer’s disease, progressive multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic…
Researchers from UC San Francisco, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Yale School of Medicine recently developed a software tool that helps researchers understand the complex genetic origins of many autoimmune diseases and, ultimately, to better diagnose and treat them. The study was published yesterday in …
Next Sunday, November 2nd, Sydney, Australia will hold one of the country’s largest fundraising events to support multiple sclerosis research and advocacy, the MS Gong Ride, a one day community bike ride designed to collect $3.8 million. Each biker is asked to help raise $250 for the historic ride that celebrates its…
A new human clinical trial testing the drug ATL1102 to treat Multiple Sclerosis was approved by FDA, carrying the promise of new therapeutics to affected patients. Antisense Therapeutics Limited (ANP) announced recently in a press release the FDA’s positive decision to approve their request to submit an Investigational…
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society granted the 2014 Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research to Philip Laurence De Jager, MD, PhD, who is a neurologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as well as an associate professor of neurology at the Harvard Medical School. The award, meant to…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted the results from Genzyme’s TOWER and TOPIC clinical trials, which assessed the safety and efficacy of oral, once-daily Aubagio® (teriflunomide) for Multiple Sclerosis, and will add the positive data to the product’s U.S. label. Genzyme is a leader in the development…
Among autoimmune diseases, Multiple Sclerosis is one of the most progressive and debilitating, affecting between 300,000 and 400,000 people in the United States alone. The cause of the disease remains elusive to researchers, making it extremely difficult to research and develop effective therapies for treating symptoms and reversing neural…
While Canada is home to one of the world’s most comprehensive social healthcare systems, it is unfortunately home to one of the largest multiple sclerosis patient populations as well. According to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, at least 100,000 Canadians have the disease, and at least 20,000 of them live…
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society‘s Lone Star Chapter, which is sponsoring the nonprofit organization’s annual Houston-area Walk MS fundraisers, has announced that Woodlands-based biopharmaceutical company Opexa Therapeutics, a company currently developing personalized immunotherapies for multiple sclerosis (MS), will also support the fundraising effort. This is the fourth consecutive…
A new study entitled, “Vaccines and the Risk of Multiple Sclerosis and Other Central Nervous System Demyelinating Diseases” published in the JAMA Neurology journal, reports that no association was observed between vaccinations and an increased risk for Multiple Sclerosis or other central nervous system…
The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) has announced that its next annual meeting will be held in 2015 between May 27 th and 30th at the JW Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis, Indiana. The 2015 Annual Meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers aims to gather healthcare professionals as…
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High Level of Multiple Sclerosis Diagnoses Observed Among Patients with Inflammatory Eye Disease
The first and largest study on the association between Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Uveitis was recently presented at the 18th annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The meeting was held at the McCormick Place in Chicago between October 17-21, 2014. Uveitis is a disorder characterized by inflammation of…
One of the most effective and engaging fundraising strategies the National Multiple Sclerosis Society organizes annually is the Bike MS series. Several times a year, in different locations throughout the country, thousands of MS patients from all over the world, as well as friends, family, and advocacy…
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