ACTRIMS 2023

GA Depot, an experimental long-acting version of glatiramer acetate, significantly reduced relapse rates and prevented the development of new lesions among people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, according to new data from a Phase 3 clinical trial. Disability levels also were significantly reduced with the treatment, given…

New data from a Phase 2 clinical trial testing vidofludimus calcium, Immunic Therapeutics’ novel oral treatment candidate for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), show promising safety and efficacy, according to the company’s chief medical officer. The therapy was found to safely reduce brain lesions and prevent disability progression in…

Can Do MS has three missions for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and their care partners — providing education about life with the disease, building connections among people, and activating them to be proactive about managing their condition. “Those are the three pillars that our programs are built…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) being treated with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) less frequently than the recommended every six months are not more likely to experience inflammatory disease activity, an analysis of some 360 patients whose dosing schedules changed during the COVID-19 pandemic suggests. Nicole Bou Rjeily, MD, a postdoctoral…

Even the cold and rainy Southern California weather did little to dampen the excitement of the more than 1,800 attendees converging on the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. People filtered in, eager for the meeting to begin. Excitement reached a fever pitch Thursday morning as the curriculum came to life.

Briumvi (ublituximab-xiiy) recently became the third anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). TG Therapeutics, the therapy’s developer, is now aiming to make Briumvi the most accessible therapy in its…

Want to reduce your multiple sclerosis (MS) fatigue? Maybe we should talk about it. I’m talking about a fatigue treatment called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which usually involves changing a person’s thinking and behavior. By talking with a therapist, sometimes on the phone, a patient develops an…

Treatment with the experimental oral therapy ibudilast (MN-166) does not significantly improve quality-of-life measures compared with a placebo among people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new data from a Phase 2 clinical trial. Analyses from the trial suggest that a marker of nerve damage…

Taking high-dose vitamin D supplements as an add-on to standard MS treatment doesn’t reduce the risk of inflammatory disease activity for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to data from a clinical trial. The findings “suggest that prescribing higher doses of vitamin D for purposes of…

Certain cells in the eyes — specifically blood vessel cells and a type of neurological immune cell called microglia — exhibit high expression or activity of genes that have been linked to multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study reports.  The researchers also “identified…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) has long been considered a disease that mostly affects white women. But in the U.S., the numbers indicate that Black people, particularly Black women, may be more likely to develop the neurodegenerative disease than people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds. For Black individuals, this misunderstanding…

More than half of the people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) who received Briumvi (ublituximab) in the ULTIMATE clinical trials had no signs of disease activity over the first six months of the trial — and over 80% of participants had no disease activity for the…

People infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) — including HIV-positive individuals who received antiretroviral treatment at some point after infection — are significantly less likely to develop multiple sclerosis (MS), a new analysis suggests.  The decrease in MS risk was particularly pronounced…

Nonwhite populations are underrepresented in research that tests therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS), meaning most available data on a treatment’s effectiveness and safety can’t be generalized to all patients. “The absence of diversity in MS research is a problem that concerns us all,” said Léorah Freeman, MD, PhD, a…

Treatment with the experimental oral suspension therapy CNM-Au8 led to improvements in measures of vision, cognitive and motor function, and brain health for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to data from the proof-of-concept VISIONARY-MS trial. Bolstered by these positive results, Clene Nanomedicine is planning to launch a…

Activating certain receptors on astrocytes — a type of nerve support cell — may offer a way of treating cognitive problems in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to recent research. MS mouse models genetically engineered to lack these receptors, called TNFR2, showed signs of greater cognitive problems, whereas cognitive gains…

Limiting calorie intake over two days of each week for three months led to beneficial immune and metabolic changes, as well as improvements in cognitive function, among people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a study found. A restrictive diet also promoted a better body composition, namely a reduction in…

A greater loss of myelin — the protective coating around nerve fibers — in the part of the spinal cord found in the neck was associated with worse disability in people with multiple sclerosis, data from a new study showed. More substantial myelin loss in this region, known…

A history of infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been shown to be a strong risk factor for developing multiple sclerosis (MS) — but is targeting the virus a viable strategy for MS prevention or treatment? This question was the subject of a debate, “How To…

A certain bacterial species is enriched in the gut of people with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) and may promote neuroinflammation and drive disability progression in these patients, a study found. When isolated from SPMS patients and given to a mouse model, this strain led to more pronounced neurological…

Psychiatric symptoms such as depression and anxiety are more common among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the five years leading up to disease onset than in people from the general population, according to a recent analysis. Individuals who would later go on to develop clinical signs of MS also…

A portable MRI device may be used to detect brain lesions that are indicative of multiple sclerosis (MS), and serve as a low-cost imaging tool that can be brought to patients for testing, according to a new analysis. While the system is not yet accurate enough to be used…

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a form of talk therapy, and medication given separately or in combination can ease fatigue significantly for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new data from a clinical trial. The effect on fatigue was comparable for talk therapy, medication, or the combination in validated…

Evobrutinib, an experimental BTK inhibitor being developed for people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), continues to be well tolerated and is showing low relapse rates after four years of treatment. That’s according to new data spanning a Phase 2 trial (NCT02975349) that tested evobrutinib against…

The multiple sclerosis (MS) community is gearing up for the eighth annual Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum, taking place this week both virtually and in San Diego, California. The yearly meeting, occurring Feb. 23-25 at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, is bringing together…