News

Dutch Amarna Therapeutics announced a research collaboration with Spanish Progreso y Salud Foundation (FPS) to investigate the efficacy of its gene therapy delivery technology in multiple sclerosis (MS) and diabetes. MS is thought to be caused by immune-mediated inflammation that damages myelin — an insulating sheath around nerve…

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) report moderate scores in mental and physical health, as measured by three, well-established quality-of-life scales, according to an analysis of published literature. The study, “Global, regional and national quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis: a global systematic review and…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) show a high occurrence of comorbidities — two diseases occurring in one person at the same time — with psychiatric and cardiovascular diseases being the most common, a new study reports. Having another co-existing disorder was found to have an impact on MS…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a higher burden of mental disorders than healthy people or people with rheumatoid arthritis, a French population-based study suggests. The study, “Prevalence of mental disorders is higher in patients with multiple sclerosis than in the general population or in patients with…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted an investigational new drug application (IND) for ANK-700, a treatment candidate for multiple sclerosis (MS) that is being developed by the Swiss company Anokion. With this approval, Anokion can enter clinical testing and is planning to…

Older age at disease-modifying therapy (DMT) discontinuation is the main predictive factor of sustained “no evidence of disease activity” (NEDA) in people starting DMT immediately after being diagnosed with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), according to a study in Austria. In particular, patients discontinuing DMT at age 45 or…

Regulatory T-cells (Tregs) — immune cells that normally dampen immune and inflammatory responses by inhibiting the activity of pro-inflammatory immune cells — enabled mice in a model of multiple sclerosis to partly recover from limb and tail paralysis, scientists reported. Tregs can do this by preventing a subtype of…

People in Texas with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other medical conditions now have access to cannabis-infused lozenges, Surterra Texas announced. Under a Texas Compassionate Use Program, cannabis-containing therapies may be prescribed to help treat various neurological and other disorders, including terminal cancer, spasticity,…

The development of a diagnostic test using neurofilament light chain (NfL) — a biomarker for nerve cell damage — for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) will be part of a collaboration program between Siemens Healthineers and Novartis. The goal of this new collaboration is to design, develop,…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a $2.3 million grant to a bioengineer at Indiana University’s Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering to improve diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The project aims to find ways to detect disease-associated cells based on their ability…

Among oral sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulators for multiple sclerosis (MS), Novartis’s Gilenya (fingolimod) remains physicians’ favorite in the U.S., but prescriptions of recently-launched Bristol Myers Squibb’s Zeposia (ozanimod) are beginning to rise, according to a survey conducted by Spherix Global Insights. Also, COVID-19 not…

More than 2.8 million people worldwide are now estimated to be living with multiple sclerosis (MS), including about 1 million in the United States, an update to the Atlas of MS reports. An increase since its previous update, this number translates to someone, somewhere in the world, being newly diagnosed with…

After a pregnancy or childbirth, most women who went on to develop clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) did so about three years later than those who were never pregnant, a large and multicenter study reported. Multiple pregnancies or births, however, were not seen to further affect CIS onset. More research is…

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, together with the Lewin Group, has launched a survey to assess the economic impact multiple sclerosis (MS) has on patients and their families. In the survey, which can be found here, MS patients and/or their family members are asked to answer…

Fatigue is the most impactful symptom on daily functioning in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and is more severe in patients with relapse, pain, depression, and sleep disorders, according to a U.S.-based survey. The results were based mostly on a new MS-specific tool called the Fatigue Symptoms…

Tysabri (natalizumab) is superior to other disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) at improving balance and vision, easing bladder problems and sexual dysfunction, and alleviating anxiety in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to data from an Australian study. The study’s findings were presented at…

AB Science’s lead candidate masitinib safely and effectively delays disability progression in people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) and non-active secondary progressive MS (SPMS), according to top-line data from a clinical trial. The therapy was found to significantly lower the risk of first and confirmed (three-month) disability progression, and to reduce…

Early use of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) significantly slows shrinkage of the thalamus — a brain region involved in sensory and motor functions — in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS), according to new analyses from three Phase 3 trials that compared immediate use with a two-year…

Long-term treatment with Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) continues to be safe and effective at reducing the frequency of relapses and disability progression in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to 13-year data from a Phase 3 extension study. The study findings were presented at MSVirtual2020 by Ralf…

Continuous treatment with Aubagio (teriflunomide) can safely lower the risk of relapses and disability progression in children with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to interim data from the open-label extension of a Phase 3 trial. These findings were detailed at MSVirtual2020 by Tanuja Chitnis, MD,…

Cognitive problems can persist into adulthood in people whose multiple sclerosis (MS) began in childhood or adolescence, and are linked to neurological issues and delays in treatment initiation, a study reports. Early use of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) and of approaches designed to preserve cognition should be encouraged for pediatric…

Most children and adolescents with pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS), especially those treated intravenously with a disease-modifying therapy (DMT), achieve no evidence of disease activity within two years of diagnosis, according to a real-life study from the U.S. Patients whose DMTs are infused into a vein (intravenous treatment) are more likely…

Compared to low-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), high-efficacy medications are more effective at slowing the loss of nerve cells making up different layers of the retina — the region at the back of the eye that enables one to see — in patients with relapsing-remitting…

Remyelination — or the restoration of lost myelin, the protective sheath surrounding nerve cell fibers — in multiple sclerosis (MS) depends mainly on pre-existing oligodendrocytes (myelin-producing cells), rather than on newly-generated oligodendrocytes, according to a recent study. The data also showed that perineuronal, or satellite,…

Before signs of neurodegeneration in the brain and spinal cord are evident in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) — which resembles human multiple sclerosis (MS) — signs can first be found in the network of nerves innervating the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, a study reports. Additional research is needed…

Women with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) using moderate- or high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) before conceiving are more likely to have a relapse during pregnancy than are those taking low-efficacy DMTs or no medicines at all, a registry-based study found. This greater relapse risk during pregnancy could be reduced with…

Longer exposure to disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) may delay disability progression and the time until people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) require the aid of a wheelchair, an Italian registry-based study found. The study also suggests that starting treatment with DMTs — medications that reduce the activity of…

In people with multiple sclerosis (MS) under age 50, the presence of cardiovascular risk factors is associated with a greater loss of brain volume, including white and grey matter, a study showed. The brain’s white matter mainly consists of nerve fibers and is typically affected by MS, while…

Early use of high efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) is more effective than the traditional approach — that of an escalating treatment regimen — at delaying disability progression in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a real-life study from Italy reports. People later moving to more aggressive treatment also appeared…

Low doses of rituximab, an anti-inflammatory medication used off-label to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), are safer and as effective as higher doses at reducing the frequency of relapses and the number of MS lesions, a clinical study shows. The study findings were presented at MSVirtual2020 by Luciana…