April 5, 2024 News by Margarida Maia, PhD Nykode’s ‘inverse vaccine’ found to prevent MS in mouse model An inverse vaccine developed by Nykode Therapeutics to boost immune system tolerance to a specific protein target was able to prevent the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a mouse model of the disease. The vaccine, known as a Vaccibody, is designed to teach the immune system to…
April 5, 2024 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD PoNS device made available to US veterans through new collaboration Helius Medical Technologies is collaborating with Lovell Government Services to make its PoNS deviceĀ ā designed to improve walking ability in people withĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) ā available to U.S. veterans and MS patients in other federal healthcare systems. The PoNS device, officially named the Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator, is…
April 4, 2024 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Improved fatty acid profiles tied to cognitive gains with two MS diets The Swank and Wahls diets, which are used by people with multiple sclerosis (MS), were associated with improvements in cognition and fatty acid blood profiles in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients, according to new analyses from the WAVES trial. Changes in omega-3 fatty acids after about three months correlated…
April 4, 2024 News by Steve Bryson, PhD KYV-101 helps 2 hard-to-treat progressive MS patients: Case study Kyverna Therapeutics‘ cell-based therapy KYV-101 had an acceptable safety profile and promising treatment effects when given to two people with hard-to-treat progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a case study. “We are very pleased about offering this potentially paradigm-shifting treatment opportunity to patients that have exhausted other medical…
April 3, 2024 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Clinical trial to test multiple Lucid-MS doses in healthy volunteers FSD Pharma has entered an agreement to launch a Phase 1 clinical trial that will test multiple ascending doses of Lucid-21-302 ā an oral treatment candidate commonly known as Lucid-MS, for all types of multiple sclerosis (MS) ā in healthy volunteers. The company’s subsidiary Huge Biopharma Australia established…
April 3, 2024 News by Margarida Maia, PhD Patients started early on Tysabri are less likely to relapse, study finds People who start treatment with Tysabri (natalizumab) soon after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) are at a lower risk of relapse in the long term compared with patients who start on less effective disease-modifying therapies (DMT), a study has found. Patients on Tysabri, an antibody-based therapy,…
April 2, 2024 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Childhood obesity linked to higher risk of later developing MS: Study Obesity in childhood is associated with a more than double the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) in adulthood, although the overall risk is low, according to a new study. “Our study adds to the evidence that obesity in early life increases the risk for a plethora of diseases…
April 2, 2024 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD JuvisĆ© to market, develop Ponvory outside North America The French company JuvisĆ© Pharmaceuticals has acquired the rights to develop and market the approved multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy Ponvory (ponesimod) outside the U.S. and Canada. The global rights were acquired from Actelion Pharmaceuticals, the therapy’s original developer and now part of JohnsonĀ &Ā Johnson Innovative Medicine.
April 1, 2024 News by Andrea Lobo, PhD Shorter time to 1st MS DMT found for more recent diagnoses: Study Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients diagnosed in more recent years ā specifically after 2017 ā were more likely to start sooner on a first MS disease-modifying therapy (DMT) than were those diagnosed between 2014 and 2016, an analysis of data from three large MS registries found. However, starting with…
April 1, 2024 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Early high-efficacy MS treatment recommended for young patients High-efficacy therapies given early can significantly reduce the risk of disability worsening in children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly when treatment is started while patients have fairly minimal disability, according to a new study. While lower-efficacy therapies were also associated with a reduced risk of disability progression…
March 29, 2024 News by Margarida Maia, PhD Low estradiol hormone levels tied to worse brain damage in menopause Low levels of the estrogen hormone estradiol may be linked to worse brain damage, a new study found, offering a possible explanation as to why multiple sclerosis (MS) often progresses more rapidly in women during menopause, when levels of that sex hormone drop. However, the use of hormone…
March 29, 2024 News by Andrea Lobo, PhD BCG vaccine to prevent tuberculosis not linked to MS risk: Study Getting the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine to protect against tuberculosis (TB) or having latent (inactive) TB in young adulthood aren’t linked to the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), a Norwegian study found. The study, āBCG vaccination and multiple sclerosis risk: A Norwegian cohort study,ā was published in…
March 28, 2024 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Smartphone, wearable device data found reliable to monitor MS: Study Measurements from smartphones and wearable devices like smartwatches can reliably provide clinically meaningful data to monitor multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study from Switzerland reports. While daily data from such devices did not prove sufficiently reliable in this small study, information generated weekly ā across more than 45 different…
March 28, 2024 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Restoring ‘lost’ pathway of neuroprotection benefits MS mice Treatment with the neuroprotective protein HB-EGF eased inflammation and promoted tissue recovery across various disease stages in a multiple sclerosis (MS) mouse model, recent research suggests. Researchers found that HB-EGF is produced by astrocytes, a type of nerve support cell, to ease acute inflammation early on, but this protective…
March 27, 2024 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Eye tracking device for monitoring MS severity approved in Canada Health Canada has approved the commercial use of ETNA-MS, a software-based medical device that uses eye tracking to noninvasively measure disease severity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Short for Eye-Tracking Neurological Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis, ETNA-MS assesses disease severity based on a personās eye movements. It’s intended for…
March 27, 2024 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Exposure to household chemicals harms myelin-making cells Two types of chemicals in household disinfectants and furniture can disrupt the development of oligodendrocytes, the brain cells chiefly responsible for making myelin, a new study shows. The finding suggests that exposure to these chemicals may be a risk factor for disorders related to myelin such as…
March 26, 2024 News by Andrea Lobo, PhD SetPoint nerve stimulator for RRMS accepted to FDA TAP program The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted SetPoint Medical, which is developing a nerve stimulator for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), into a pilot program designed to promote the development of new medical devices, the company said. The Total Product Life Cycle Advisory Program…
March 26, 2024 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Advancing age affects Tregs’ ability to promote myelin repair: Study While regulatory T-cells (Tregs) are able to promote remyelination ā the repair of the myelin sheath that’s damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS) ā this ability declines significantly with age, a new study shows. Based on the findings, researchers have identified molecular targets that may boost the myelin-repairing features…
March 25, 2024 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Unmet MS care needs prevalent among patients in Italy: Survey Almost all of the nearly 700 people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Italy who responded to a patient survey reported at least one unmet MS care need ā ranging from insufficient access to primary care, social interactions, assistance, doctor-patient relationships, and information about the neurodegenerative disease. More than half…
March 25, 2024 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Astrocytes, much like immune cells, can drive inflammation in MS A subset of astrocytes ā a type of support cell for the central nervous systemĀ ā has a form of immune-related memory that might contribute to a worsening of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to recent research. Much like immune cells, these astrocytes can remember inflammatory stimuli that they previously have…
March 22, 2024 News by Marisa Wexler, MS MS lesions grow from center outward, new mapping study shows In multiple sclerosis (MS), lesions ā areas of abnormal tissue in the nervous system ā start as a core of a few inflammatory immune cells, with inflammatory damage then spreading outward from these cells to form a lesion. That’s according to a new study from Sweden, in which researchers…
March 22, 2024 News by Mary Chapman Neural Sleeve walking aid for MS now available at 3 Colorado centers Note: This story was updated March 22, 2024, to note Neural Sleeve is now licensed to ship to 47 states.Ā Ā Cionic has added three neurological medical centers to its national Centers of Excellence program as part of its continuing effort to expand the availability of its Neural Sleeve…
March 21, 2024 News by Mary Chapman Seqster data-sharing platform selected to power MSAA network Note: This story was updated March 26, 2024, to correct the affiliations of the Multiple Sclerosis Implementation Network staff and to note changes to the program’s partners. The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) has tapped healthcare technology company SeqsterĀ to power its multicenter research and learning program, which…
March 21, 2024 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD S1PR modulators linked to seizure risk in MS trial meta-analysis 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),…
March 20, 2024 News by Margarida Maia, PhD Vitamin D seen as most helpful for males in progressive MS rat model 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…
March 19, 2024 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Antibodies against EBV viral protein help prevent infection in mice 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 ā called gp42 ā researchers…
March 19, 2024 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Neurostimulator to repair myelin in RRMS named breakthrough device The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has designated SetPoint Medicalās 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.
March 18, 2024 News by Andrea Lobo, PhD MSAA, Lumina partner to provide MRIs to MS patients in Ohio 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…
March 18, 2024 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Cell therapy using Tregs in MS headed to Phase 2 trials in Poland The Polish biotechnology company PolTREG plans to launch Phase 2 trials testing its Tregs therapy ā the T-cell-based treatment PTG-007 ā 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…
March 15, 2024 News by Steve Bryson, PhD New bilingual graphic aims to raise awareness of early MS symptoms 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 sclerosisĀ (MS). The graphic ā bearing the word āVISIBLYā in English and āVISIBLEā in Spanish ā uses the letters in each phrase…