Octave to test its precision MS care program in real-world study

Octave Bioscience plans to test its precision care program in an observational, real-world study with people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

The program, called MS Precision Care Solution, uses blood biomarkers to monitor disease activity alongside MRI scans of the brain and spinal cord. An app tracks MS symptoms daily and connects with the company’s certified MS nurse practitioners in real time.

The 12-month study, sponsored by Biogen, expects to enroll about 150 patients beginning this fall at the Rocky Mountain MS Clinic, Utah; the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation’s (OMRF) MS Center of Excellence; and the Orlando Health MS Comprehensive Care Center in Florida.

“We believe this study will illustrate the power of the full Octave Solution — insights from biological, radiographic, and clinical phenotype tools — to create a dynamic, longitudinal perspective of a patient with MS,” William Hagstrom, Octave’s founder and CEO, said in a company press release. “The initiation of this study marks an important milestone as we work with one of the leading companies in MS and neuroscience to obtain deeper insights about patients and their treatments, and ultimately enable improved care for these patients.”

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What does the Octave Solution do?

MS is an inflammatory disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. Its symptoms and severity vary widely between people because different parts of the nervous system are affected. This makes optimizing disease management challenging for physicians and patients.

“As MS specialists, we strive to provide the best care while advancing the understanding of this devastating disease,” said Gabriel Pardo, MD, director of the OMRF MS Center of Excellence. “Octave’s Solution offers a robust comprehensive assessment of an MS patient’s evolution in a way we have not had available before and we are thrilled to be contributing to this important scientific research.”

Octave’s care program includes the MS Disease Activity (MSDA) test, which measures the levels of 18 proteins in the blood that reflect pathways and mechanisms related to the disease. The company recently reported MSDA could efficiently measure the level of new MS activity.

“We have been working with the Octave Solution for some time and the impact it has had on our practice has been significant,” said John F. Foley, MD, founder of Rocky Mountain MS Clinic. “The data supporting the MSDA test alone is revolutionary and the full solution will further enable unprecedented insight into our patients.”

The study has multiple goals. It will compare disease activity in blood samples, via MSDA score, in patients with relapsing forms of MS who are receiving different disease-modifying therapies and then characterize changes in brain and spinal cord tissue over time using MRI scans and Octave’s enhanced imaging analysis.

The researchers will also evaluate patients’ self-reported depression, anxiety, mobility, and their emotional state using Octave’s clinical insights program, and will compare health metrics obtained via wearable technology. The study will also compare the number of events among participants given different MS treatments, as assessed by an MS nurse practitioner.

“Octave is creating a new paradigm of precision care for neurodegenerative disease,” said Amy Gutierrez, MD, neurologist at the Orlando Health MS Comprehensive Care Center. “For those of us who have been researching and treating MS for decades, it is a promising step forward for us and, most importantly, for our patients.”

“We are pleased to bring together two pioneering organizations to evaluate multi-modal care for people living with MS,” Lee Gervitz, PhD, at Biogen, said. “Our team at Biogen looks forward to working with Octave and the participating clinics to pursue our shared goal of improving patient outcomes.”