News

NervGen Pharma has been cleared to enroll a second group of healthy volunteers into the multiple ascending dose portion of its Phase 1 clinical trial of NVG-291, a therapeutic candidate for multiple sclerosis (MS). The trial’s Safety Review Committee approved the second group after seeing promising safety data…

Getting the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine to protect against tuberculosis (TB) — an immunization often given to infants and small children in countries where TB is common — does not decrease a person’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study. “Within a large birth cohort…

Initial treatment with Novantrone (mitoxantrone) can reduce the risk of relapses and worsening disability in people with highly active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to a 10-year study from France. “Our results support the short-term use of [Novantrone], followed by a maintenance therapy for patients with early highly…

The MS Society of Canada‘s virtual MS Read-a-Thon event has been extended to March 20, giving children and families throughout Canada extra time to enjoy reading while raising funds for the multiple sclerosis (MS) community. The event, which began Jan. 27, seeks to generate $110,000 to…

Six months of treatment with foralumab, an experimental nasal spray, safely and effectively improved motor and cognitive function while easing immune activation and inflammatory responses in a person with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), Tiziana Life Sciences, the therapy’s developer, announced. The patient — the first with MS to…

PIPE-307, an investigational myelin-restoring medication being developed by Pipeline Therapeutics for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), appears to be safe and well tolerated in healthy adults. The results are from a Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT04725175) that evaluated the safety and tolerability of PIPE-307 in 70…

While people who smoke cigarettes are more likely to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, MS patients who are daily alcohol drinkers are more likely to show signs of faster neurodegeneration, a new study highlights. The findings suggest that quitting smoking and cutting back on alcohol would be beneficial for people…

Cionic has received authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its lightweight, leg-worn Neural Sleeve to improve walking in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other conditions that affect mobility. The decision comes four months after the company submitted the device — the first to…

A substantial amount of disability worsening happens independently of relapses in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), including those in earlier stages of relapsing-remitting disease, a study in a large patient database reported. While its findings “confirm relapses contribute to the accumulation of disability, primarily early in multiple sclerosis,” data…

Maternal or paternal exposure prior to conception to the multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy Aubagio (teriflunomide) does not seem to increase the risk of adverse pregnancy events, including miscarriage, preterm birth, small newborn size, or malformations, according to the results of a recent Danish study. About…

The number of nurses in the U.K. with a specialty in multiple sclerosis (MS) care rose significantly between 2018 and 2021, but these specialists on average carry a patient caseload that’s 50% higher than recommended, as a pronounced rise in MS cases was also noted, the MS Trust reports.

Roche is teaming up with the University of Plymouth in the U.K. to help develop Floodlight MS, the company’s app to monitor multiple sclerosis (MS). “We were pleased to collaborate with Roche on an innovative project to validate the Floodlight MS app and, as with everything we do…

A short-term ketogenic diet, which dramatically cuts carbohydrate consumption, is safe and results in significant improvements in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a small study in patients reported. “Our study provides evidence that a ketogenic diet is safe and beneficial, reducing some symptoms for people with MS, when…

Immune system reaction to casein, a protein in cow’s milk, can trigger an inflammatory neurological disease in mice that’s similar to multiple sclerosis (MS) and includes the loss of myelin, a study reported. “These results identify how consumption of milk and milk products may exacerbate the autoimmune response in…

The National MS Society, together with a number of its corporate healthcare partners, want to help correct the lack of diversity in clinical trials as part of an effort toward resolving healthcare inequities in the MS community. To address these disparities, the National MS Society’s Corporate Healthcare Roundtable, a…

Administering the stem cell therapy NG-01 — designed to have neuroprotective and neuro-regenerative properties — directly into the spinal canal can significantly reduce the levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL), a neuronal damage biomarker, in people with active, progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). These are the new…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients reported fewer difficulties regulating their emotions, and reduced depressive symptoms when they applied trait mindfulness techniques, a study showed. Trait mindfulness refers to an innate ability to pay and maintain attention to moments in the present with an open, non-judgmental attitude. Notably, the use of…

Masitinib, AB Science’s experimental oral therapy, significantly slows disability progression in adults with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) and non-active secondary progressive MS (SPMS), according to final data from the AB07002 Phase 2b/3 clinical trial. These findings, indicating that the trial met its main goal, support…

Measuring levels of the neurofilament light chain (NfL) protein in blood may be a way to “quantify” relapse severity and predict future disability in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). “Higher [blood] NfL levels during periods of active inflammation predicted more [brain] atrophy,” researchers wrote in an abstract titled…

Electrically stimulating the brain while doing at-home cognitive training games can help to prevent a decline in cognition for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly those with more advanced disability, a study indicates. “This could lead to a therapy that can remediate cognitive impairment, we just need to optimize”…

Tolebrutinib, an investigative inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) being developed by Sanofi to treat all forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), shows the potential to be more potent than other BTK inhibitors also in advanced clinical trials, scientists reported. The findings, based on preclinical data, were shared at the Americas…

Using a two-step machine learning strategy, researchers have developed an algorithm to predict the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) relapse based on data gleaned from electronic health records. “The two-step machine learning model predicts a patient’s future one-year MS relapse risk with clinically actionable accuracy, comparable to other clinical…

Hormonal changes over time — and especially those around menopause — are often associated with disability worsening in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, which suggests that sex-specific hormone therapies may be useful in MS treatment. Burcu Zeydan, MD, assistant professor of neurology and radiology at Mayo Clinic, provided an overview…

The experimental medication ublituximab significantly reduces the number of new brain lesions with severe nerve cell degeneration in people with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) as compared with Aubagio (teriflunomide), according to new data from the Phase 3 ULTIMATE clinical trials. The findings showed that ublituximab induces a rapid…

A higher burden of lesions in the brain’s cortex is associated with a greater likelihood of disability worsening in multiple sclerosis (MS) and transition to secondary progressive MS (SPMS), researchers report. These results suggest that “monitoring cortical lesion volume … could be useful when stratifying risk of disability…

From celebrating artists’ works to sharing stories that bring to life the experience of multiple sclerosis (MS), Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month is designed to call attention to this neurodegenerative disorder and the nearly 1 million U.S. residents it’s thought to affect. MS can cause a host of physical…

A faster rate of atrophy in the spinal cord of people in earlier stages of multiple sclerosis (MS) is likely to indicate “silent progression” — worsening disability in the absence of relapses — and a swifter conversion to secondary progressive MS (SPMS), new data show. Antje Bischof, MD, with…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who are treated with Mavenclad (cladribine) are less likely to experience a disease relapse than those who are treated with Gilenya (fingolimod), Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate), or Aubagio (teriflunomide), according to an analysis of real-world data. The findings were presented at the Americas Committee…

Iron rim lesions, or specific regions of chronic inflammation seen on MRI scans of the brain, are associated with greater disability and poorer outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS), a study indicates. These findings “could support the use of iron rim lesions as an imaging biomarker for disease severity and…

Researchers developed a new mouse model that more closely captures a specific type of inflammation characteristic of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) — and found, in experiments, that treatment with an oral medication called evobrutinib can lessen disease activity. This new mouse model may help scientists in MS to better study…