News

Neufit is encouraging people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to register for its upcoming MS Bootcamp, a three-day event that will showcase the company’s Neufit method for an intensive, specialized rehabilitation experience and connect patients to experts and a supportive community. The event will take place Nov. 8-10, at…

The pharmaceutical company Médunik Canada and Population Council, a nonprofit research organization, are teaming up to investigate the potential use of segesterone acetate, a derivative of the hormone progesterone, as a multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy. The compound is expected to promote the restoration of myelin, the…

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) has updated its Pathways to Cures Roadmap to account for recent scientific advances in the search for a cure for multiple sclerosis (MS). The details were provided in the report, “The refined Pathways to Cures Research Roadmap for…

A clinical trial is evaluating whether combining a cognitive rehabilitation program with a virtual reality (VR)-based aerobic exercise regimen will improve learning and memory in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and motor disability. Researchers expect the approach will show cognitive benefits via positive effects on a brain region called…

Having antibodies against the rubella virus is associated with an increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) in unvaccinated people, a Swedish study suggests. The findings show a rubella infection may be a risk factor for MS, reinforcing the hypothesis that certain viral infections may trigger the misleading immune…

A year of treatment with the experimental BTK inhibitor fenebrutinib was safe and nearly entirely suppressed signs of disease activity, including relapses, disability progression, and brain lesions, in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new data from the open-label extension part of a Phase…

Treatment with rituximab, a CD20 inhibitor used off-label for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, can stabilize disability progression and reduce disease activity in people with secondary progressive MS (SPMS), according to a review of several published studies. These benefits were reported over a mean follow-up of two years, and…

Treatment with the investigational BTK inhibitor tolebrutinib significantly delayed the onset of confirmed disability progression in people with nonrelapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) compared with a placebo, meeting the primary goal of the HERCULES Phase 3 trial. A preliminary analysis of liver safety was consistent with previous…

Transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS), wherein mild electrical impulses are applied to the tibial nerve located near the ankle, may help with sexual dysfunction related to multiple sclerosis (MS) in both men and women, a study suggests. The study, “Tibial nerve stimulation in the management of primary sexual…

Researchers uncovered a mechanism by which regulatory T-cells (Tregs), immune cells that keep the immune system in check and prevent its overactivity, become dysfunctional in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune conditions. Tregs from MS patients exhibited increased levels of a protein called PRDM1-S that ultimately caused…

Rituximab, which is sometimes used off-label for multiple sclerosis (MS), doubles the risk of hospital-treated infections, but may prevent worsening disability better than some approved disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), a Swedish study finds. Hospital-treated infections were significantly associated with a higher risk of relapse-independent disability worsening among relapsing-remitting…

Glial cells, which mostly support the function of nerve cells, play key roles in multiple sclerosis (MS) disease progression and development, according to a stem cell-based study. “Most research and therapeutic strategies have so far focused on blocking the overactive immune system, but how cells in the brain itself,…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) are about half as likely as those without the disease to have signs of the amyloid-beta plaques in the brain that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study in the U.S. “Our findings imply that some component of the biology…

Obesity promotes molecular signatures associated with more inflammation and multiple sclerosis (MS) signaling pathways specifically in females, which may explain the link between obesity and a higher risk of MS in women. These are the findings of a new study analyzing data not only from obese and non-obese women…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the green light to Immpact Bio to conduct a Phase 1 clinical trial to test IMPT-514, its experimental cell therapy, in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). With the investigational new drug (IND) clearance by the FDA, Immpact Bio now…

Abata Therapeutics has received an investment from Bristol Myers Squibb to support the development of its experimental regulatory T-cell (Treg) therapies for severe autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). The new equity investment from the global biopharmaceutical company follows last week’s green light from…

A potential treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), arsenic trioxide (ATO) has been patented in the European Union based on findings in preclinical studies. Notice of an intent to grant patent EP18722530, titled “Method for treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis using arsenic trioxide,” was given by the European Patent…

A Phase 1 clinical trial that’s testing IMP761, an experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune conditions, has dosed its first healthy participant, the therapy’s developer has announced. Immutep received regulatory clearance to start the first-in-human trial of IMP761 in the Netherlands about a…

A grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is supporting a U.S. study into the physical, cognitive, and psychological responses that may underlie a fear of falling in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Specifically, the $96,812 two-year grant by the agency’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child…

A specific epigenetic marker, or a chemical modification in DNA that alters gene activity, may explain why adult oligodendrocyte progenitor cells respond differently to therapies aiming to restore myelin than their neonatal counterparts, a study reports. The modification, called a lysine eight acetylation on histone H4, helps to regulate…

People with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who drink low to moderate amounts of alcohol have significantly less disability progression in the years following diagnosis than non-drinkers, a study found. The trend was especially pronounced among women. Although the findings suggest that drinking alcohol may have beneficial effects in some…

TG Therapeutics plans to soon launch a Phase 1 clinical trial to investigate the CAR T-cell therapy azercabtagene zapreleucel, or azer-cel, in people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The announcement comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared TG’s…

People with multiple sclerosis show subtle alterations in gut bacteria that seem to be consistent across populations in the U.S. and Asia, a new analysis of previously published studies found. “Our work … establishes a generalized and common gut microbiome pattern in patients with MS across geographically and technically…

Indapta Therapeutics will launch a Phase 1 clinical trial in the U.S. in the second half of 2024 to explore its cell-based therapy IDP-023 in people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The announcement follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) clearance of the company’s investigational…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other conditions who use Mallinckrodt‘s treatment Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection) now have a self-injection option, the company said. Acthar Gel Single-Dose Pre-filled SelfJect is available in two dosages — 40 USP units/0.5 ml and 80 USP units/1.0 mL — that…

PIPE-307, an experimental oral therapy that’s currently in Phase 2 testing for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), was shown to promote myelin repair in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS). The preclinical findings were published in PNAS, in the study “Targeting the muscarinic M1 receptor…

Three innovative projects aimed at addressing unmet needs in multiple sclerosis (MS) and fostering new perspectives on the disease have received incubator grants from the nonprofit MS Australia. Totaling AU$74,813 (or about $48,700), the grants will support one-year projects that focus on MS social needs, disease biomarkers, and…

About a third of people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) exhibit cognitive impairments, according to a review by Australian researchers of 50 previously published studies. The findings suggest that cognitive issues might be somewhat less common in RRMS than previous reports have indicated, with prior estimates ranging from approximately…

A machine learning algorithm may be able to accurately predict whether or not people with multiple sclerosis (MS) will experience a worsening of disability in the near term — which may help tailor treatment decisions and improve patient quality of life — according to the findings of a new…

Blocking the activity of a protein called connexin 43 (Cx43) may be an effective strategy to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a recent study in animal models of the disease. A compound called INI-0602, which was designed to inhibit this protein, significantly eased disease severity in mice, including…