October 16, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – Evobrutinib and Other Reasons for Hope in Pursuit of MS Treatments, Jerry Wolinsky Says in Interview Advances in multiple sclerosisĀ research and the development of new treatments over the last several decades give sustained reasons for hope as continue moving toward our future, according toĀ Jerry S. Wolinsky, a neurologist and MS specialist whose career spans more than 40 years. In a wide-ranging interview with Multiple…
October 16, 2018 News by BioNews Staff #ECTRIMS2018 – MS PATHS Just Starting to See Potential, Aims for Remission as Treatment Goal, Biogen Exec Says MS PATHS, a way of capturing data on disease progression and treatment response in thousands of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients being treated at any of 10 participating clinics, has among its goals that of making clinical remission ā a prolonged absence of any disease activity ā possible, said an…
October 16, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – Two European Studies Compare Tecfidera, Aubagio Effectiveness Treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients with Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate)Ā is associated with fewer new brain lesions at two years, lower relapse rates, increased time to first relapse, and reduced treatment discontinuation than with Aubagio (teriflunomide), according to a nationwide study from France and a real-world, population-based…
October 16, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – Study Examines Relapses When Stopping Gilenya During, After Pregnancy Up to half of women with multiple sclerosis (MS) who stop treatment with Gilenya (fingolimod) when planning to become pregnant will experience a relapse during pregnancy, according to a new study. The findings also revealed relapses over the first six months after giving birth in a quarter of…
October 15, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc #ECTRIMS2018 ā Additional Analysis on Ozanimod Demonstrates Its Potential to Treat Relapsing MS Additional analysis of clinical data from Celgeneās investigational agent ozanimod continues to demonstrate its potential to benefit patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). Findings from the Phase 3 SUNBEAM and RADIANCE Part B trials were discussed at the 34th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and…
October 15, 2018 News by BioNews Staff #ECTRIMS2018 – Post-hoc Analyses Support Safety and Efficacy of Mavenclad, Merck KGaA Says Substantial data supporting both the effectiveness and safety of Mavenclad (cladribine tablets) is before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and may lead to its approval as a short-course oral treatment for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) some seven years after a first such request…
October 15, 2018 News by BioNews Staff #ECTRIMS2018 ā As Siponimod Awaits FDA Decision, Mouse Work Helps in Understanding Benefits Seen in SPMS Mouse studies ofĀ siponimod ā a potential progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment that’s up for approval in the U.S. and EU ā were among presentations given by NovartisĀ at the 34th European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple SclerosisĀ (ECTRIMS), held Oct. 10-12 in Berlin. Animal work might seem…
October 15, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – Plasma Neurofilament Light Levels Linked to Treatment Effects in RRMS, Study Finds Levels of proposed biomarker neurofilament light chain (NfL) are associated with therapeutic effects of disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) inĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosisĀ (RRMS) patients, according to a real-world study. Study findings also revealed that treatment with either Lemtrada (alemtuzumab, marketed byĀ Sanofi Genzyme),Ā Gilenya (fingolimod, marketed by Novartis), Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate, marketed…
October 15, 2018 News by Ana Pena PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – Smoking and Vitamin D Deficiency Likely to Worsen CIS Prognosis, Model Suggests Smoking and low levels of vitamin D can worsen prognosis for people with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), researchers who developed a model for predicting long-term disability progression report. Their study, āPredicting the course of CIS patients adding…
October 15, 2018 News by Ana Pena PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – Excessive Weight, But Not Vitamin D, Linked with Faster Grey Matter Loss in MS, Study Finds Being overweight is associated with accelerated grey matter volume loss in the brain, a mark ofĀ neurodegeneration, in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, a five-year observational study shows. But vitamin D levels, often suggested as an MS risk factor, do not seem to affect brain volume over time.
October 12, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018: Study Proposes Serum Neurofilament Light Threshold to Identify RRMS Patients at Risk of Worsening Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients with serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels higher than a proposed threshold have a higher risk of disease activity, and worsened disability, lesions and brain shrinkage in the long term, according to a new study. The research, āSerum neurofilament light (NfL)…
October 12, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 ā In CIS Patients, Early Lesions in Specific Brain Area Linked to Worse Disability 30 Years Later, Study Shows Lesions in the infratentorial region of the brain at the onset ofĀ clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and lesions in white matter one year after CIS onset are associated with worse disability 30 years later, a study reports. The study, āEarly MRI predictors of long-term multiple sclerosis outcomes:…
October 12, 2018 News by BioNews Staff #ECTRIMS2018 – From Sun to Salt: Growing Role of Environment in MS A person’s genes influence the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), but so does the environment ā both that in which an MS patient lives, and that which a patient creates through diet and other lifestyle choices, researchers said in a Thursday session at the 34th congress of the European…
October 12, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 ā Early Relapses and Larger Lesions Increase Risk of Developing SPMS, Study Reports A higher frequency of early relapses, as well as a larger volume of lesions and older age at disease onset, increase the risk of transitioning from relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) to secondary progressive MS (SPMS), according to a study. The study, āEarly cortical pathology and…
October 12, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc #ECTRIMS2018 – MS Patients More Prone to Health Problems Before, After Diagnosis, Study Suggests Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are more likely to experience health problems before they receive their formal diagnosis, as well as to experience serious non-MS-related complications after diagnosis, a study reveals. The findings were reported in the study āIncreased risk of…
October 11, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 ā Infections, Severe Disability Complications More Likely Causes of Death in MS Patients, Study Shows Infections and complications from severe disability are the greatest contributors to mortality amongĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, according to a population-based study in British Columbia, Canada, which also found that that MS is a more common underlying cause of death among younger patients. The study, āCauses that…
October 11, 2018 News by Ana Pena PhD #ECTRIMS2018 ā MS Patients with Depression or Bipolar Disorder at Higher Risk of Disability Worsening, Study Finds Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with depression or bipolar disorder may be at higher risk of becoming incapacitated and seeing their disability worsen faster, according to a Swedish study. A depressive state may increase the central nervous system response’s to inflammation and accelerate the…
October 11, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – Brain, Spinal Cord Injuries Affect Processing Speed in MS Patients, Study Reveals Processing speed is associated with the extent of brain and spinal cord injury in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study conducted in a clinical setting. The results support using the Processing Speed Test (PST) in both clinical practice and trials. The study, ā…
October 11, 2018 News by BioNews Staff #ECTRIMS2018 ā Data from 2 EU Trials Shows Effectiveness of Cannabidiol Spray in Treating Spasticity Data from two European trials ā a real-life study in Italy, and a long-term Czech trial looking at impact on cognition ā supported the efficacy of a widely approved cannabinoid spray in treating moderate to severe spasticity (muscular stiffness or involuntary spasms) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who…
October 11, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – Rituximab for MS Does Not Increase Cancer Risk Compared to Gilenya and Tysabri, Swedish Study Finds Treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with rituximab does not increase breast cancer risk in women, and is not associated with a higher risk for malignant cancer of any type in men or women, when compared to Gilenya (fingolimod) orĀ Tysabri (natalizumab), according to a nationwide study in…
October 11, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – Lower Mortality Rate in US, Sweden for MS Patients Treated With Rituximab, Study Reports Treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with rituximab leads to lower-than-reported mortality rates, according to a large real-world study in the U.S. and Sweden. The findings also revealed no deaths due to infusion reactions or to systemic inflammation. The study, āMortality rates in large US and…
October 10, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 ā Vitamin D May Boost Glucocorticosteroid Effectiveness in MS Relapses, Study Suggests Vitamin D may increase the therapeutic benefits of glucocorticosteroids (GCs) forĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) through a protein complex called mTORc1, according to a study in a mouse model and in cells from MS patients. The study, āVitamin D augments glucocorticosteroid efficacy via inhibition of mTORc1,ā was presented…
October 10, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – Switching to Tysabri Leads to Fewer Relapses and Disability than Gilenya, Study in RRMS Patients Finds Patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who switch to Tysabri (natalizumab) after relapses on first-line treatment with other medications show greater relapse reduction and less disability progression than those switching to Gilenya (fingolimod), according to a real-world study. The research, āComparative effectiveness of switching…
October 10, 2018 News by Ana Pena PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – DMTs Slow Down Disability Progression in SPMS Patients with Ongoing Relapses, Analysis Shows Treatment with disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) may benefit patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) who are actively experiencing relapses, as they can slow the disability’s worsening, a new analysis of an MS patient registry shows. Patients…
October 10, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc #ECTRIMS2018 ā Merck KGaA to Present Latest Data on MS Portfolio Merck KGaA will present the latest advances made on several of its therapies aiming to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) at the 34th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research In Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). The conference is taking place through Friday in Berlin. The company, known as…
October 10, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – Researcher Presents Data About Myelocortical MS, a New Disease Subtype A new subtype of multiple sclerosis (MS) ā called myelocortical MS (MCMS) ā is characterized by cortical neuronal loss, but not by loss of myelin in the brain’s white matter, according to a study. Research on this new type of MS was presented today at the 34thĀ congress of…
October 10, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc FDA, EMA Agree to Review Novartis Therapy Siponimod to Treat SPMS Novartis is seeking U.S. and European approval of its investigational oral agent siponimodĀ to treat adults with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the company’s New Drug Application, while the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has accepted for review…
October 9, 2018 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD Pregnancy Rates Rise Among Women with MS Over Past Decade in US, Study Shows In recent years, pregnancy rates have increased among women with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the United States, according to a retrospective study, but the rate of pregnancy complications is similar between women with MS and those who don’t have the disease. The study, “Pregnancy rates and outcomes in…
October 9, 2018 News by Janet Stewart, MSc EMD Serono, ACP Work Jointly to Make MS Clinical Trials More Patient-focused The Accelerated Cure Project (ACP) for Multiple SclerosisĀ andĀ EMD Seronoā a unit of Merck KGaA ā Ā will jointly incorporate the perspectives of U.S. and CanadianĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) patients into the design and implementation of clinical trials. The ACP, a nonprofit group based in Waltham, Massachusetts, strives to accelerate…
October 8, 2018 News by Diogo Pinto National MS Society Awards $12M to 40 Research Projects in US and Elsewhere The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS)Ā has pledged $12 million to support 40 new, multi-year research projects focused on āstopping MS, restoring lost function, and ending the disease forever,ā the organization announced in a press release. This commitment ā the last allocation set aside for research in 2018 ā…