April 24, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc #AAN2018 ā Celgene to Present Latest Data on Ozanimod’s Safety and Effectiveness Celgeneās oral treatment candidate ozanimod can effectively reduce relapse rates in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with mild to moderate disability, results of two Phase 3 trials show. The company will present data on the SUNBEAM (NCT02294058) and RADIANCE (NCT02047734) trials in two presentations at the…
February 27, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias What’s Hot and What’s Not Among MS Therapies? The newest kids on the MS block, disease-modifying therapies (DMT) such as Genentech’s Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and Sanofi Genzyme’s Lemtrada (alemtuzumab), are attracting a lot of interest these days. But, some DMTs that have been around for more than two decades are still being prescribed by a lot of neurologists.
February 8, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #ACTRIMS2018 – Ozanimod Reduces MS Relapses and Brain Deterioration, Phase 3 Trial Shows Celgene’sĀ Ozanimod reduces relapsing multiple sclerosis patients’ relapses, brain lesions, and brain volume loss, a Phase 3 clinical trial shows. The company presented the results of the SUNBEAM trial atĀ theĀ ACTRIMS Forum 2018Ā convention in San Diego, Feb. 1-3. The presentation was titled āOzanimod Demonstrates Efficacy and Safety…
January 10, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Extavia Is the Only Therapy for MS with Relapses That Britain Should Cover, Board Says A British board that recommends what treatments the National Health ServiceĀ should cover has advised the system to use onlyĀ Extavia (interferon beta 1b) as a treatment for MS patients who continue to have relapses. Cost was at the heart of the National Institute for Health and Care…
October 30, 2017 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc #MSParis2017 – RADIANCE Trial Data Shows Ozanimod’s Potential Over Interferon Beta-1a for Relapsing MS Celgene‘s investigative drug ozanimod has been shown to be more efficient thanĀ an intramuscular injection of interferon beta-1a (marketed as AvonexĀ by Biogen) in reducing relapses and disease progression in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to results of the two-year Phase 3 RADIANCE trial. The findings were…
October 13, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Specialty Pharmaceuticals Mean Specialty Prices If you have MS, you’ve probably used a specialty drug. My first was Avonex, which I began to use about 1998. Several others followed. There’s no formal definition of a specialty drug, but these therapies have several things in common. First, they’re expensive. According to the vice president in…
May 23, 2017 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Results of Phase 3 Trial for Celgene’s Ozanimod Suggest Therapeutic Benefit in RMS Patients Relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) patients taking the investigational drug ozanimod, also known as RPC-1063, had lowerĀ relapse rate than those on weekly Avonex (interferon Ī²-1a) therapy, according toĀ CelgeneĀ in an announcement updating results of its Phase 3 RADIANCE trial. Ozanimod is a new orally administrated drug that selectively inhibits the…
January 31, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Patient Opinions on Zinbryta Seen to Match Phase 3 Trial Data, Supporting Questionnaire Use More relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated withĀ Zinbryta (daclizumab)Ā said they feltĀ itsĀ health benefitsĀ than did thoseĀ givenĀ Avonex (interferon beta-1a) ā demonstrating that patient-reported outcomes do mirror objective measures of improved health in a clinical trial ofĀ the two drugs. Patient-reported changesĀ in both physical and psychological health contribute to a more comprehensive picture of…
December 13, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Zinbryta Approved in Canada as Once-Monthly Treatment for Relapsing MS Health CanadaĀ has approved Zinbryta (daclizumab)Ā as aĀ treatment for adults with active relapsing-remittingĀ multiple sclerosis (RRMS), BiogenĀ and AbbVieĀ announced. Zinbryta is a long-acting injection therapy, self-administered monthly, for patients who have had an inadequate response to at least two other MS therapies. “ZINBRYTAā¢ is the first once-monthly, self-administered treatment…
November 14, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Availability of MS Therapies Provides ‘Peace of Mind’ Value to Society, Study Finds Chronic diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) not only impact patients, they also inspire fear among healthy people who may be at risk of the disease. In a new study, researchers found that the availability of multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies provides āpeace of mindā value to currently healthy individuals, particularly when…
September 19, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #ECTRIMS2016 – Biogen and AbbVie Present New Positive Data on Zinbryta to Treat Relapsing MS BiogenĀ andĀ AbbVieĀ presented positive new post-hoc analysis from the pivotal DECIDE clinical trial, whichĀ showed that a significantly larger number of relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) patients treated with Zinbryta (daclizumab) hadĀ no evidence of disease activity (NEDA)Ā compared to thoseĀ treated with Avonex (interferon beta-1a).Ā The data wereĀ given at the recentĀ 32nd Congress of the European…
August 17, 2016 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski CVS Prescription Plan Drops Big Name MS Drugs from 2017 Formulary The CVS Caremark coveredĀ insurance plan has dropped Avonex, Plegridy and Extavia, three multiple sclerosis disease-modifying therapies, from their 2017 formulary. You say, OK, but what does that really mean? If your prescription insurance is through CVS Caremark, and you want one of those drugs or one…
August 1, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD Genentech Enrolling Relapsing MS Patients in Study of Mechanism of Action for Ocrevus In addition to a new study sponsored by GenentechĀ to test the experimentalĀ MS therapyĀ Ocrevus (ocrelizumab)Ā in RMS patients who have had a sub-optimal response to previous disease modifying therapies, the company is also currently recruiting patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis to understand the therapy’sĀ mechanism of action and B-cell biology…
July 25, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias My MS Road: Diagnosis, Disease Management & Oral Vs. Injectable Therapies Editor’s Note: Multiple Sclerosis News Today is pleased to welcome Ed Tobias to our team of Patient Specialists and Columnists. Ed brings a wealth of journalistic experience to his new column, “The MS Wire,” which explores the latest science and research news for multiple sclerosisĀ from a patient’s perspective. Follow “The…
July 22, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD Disease Modifying Drugs Seen to Help Protect MS Patients with Benign Status from Greater Disability Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) and people diagnosed with the disease at aĀ younger age are more likely to have a benign course of MS, remaining fully functional for decadesĀ after disease onset, according to researchers at the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in New York. Disease modifying drugs wereĀ also found…
July 6, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD ICER Draft Report Evaluating Therapies for RRMS Now Open for Public Comment TheĀ Institute of Clinical and Economic Review (ICER)Ā released the early draft of a paper intended toĀ informĀ a future report evaluating the effectiveness and value of disease-modifying therapies for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The paper, called aĀ draft scopingĀ document, is titled “Disease Modifying Therapies for Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: Effectiveness and…
April 22, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Biogen and AbbVie Present New Data Showing Zinbryta, an RRMS Drug Candidate, Aids Cognition Without Immune Depletion New data presented byĀ BiogenĀ andĀ AbbVieĀ at the recent 68th annual meeting of theĀ American Academy of Neurology (AAN) showed that ZinbrytaĀ (daclizumab high-yield process) improved cognitive outcome measures in patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (RMS). Additional results ā from post-hoc analyses of clinicalĀ trials ā also offer a better…
July 8, 2015 News by Isaura Santos 1200 People With Relapsing MS Needed For RPC1063, Avonex Clinical Trials Clinical investigatorsĀ worldwide are beginning to recruitĀ 1,200 patientsĀ with relapsing multiple sclerosisĀ for a study assessingĀ the effectiveness of two different doses of RPC1063 (Receptos, Inc.), an experimental oral therapy, and AvonexĀ® (interferon beta-1a, Biogen Inc.) in order toĀ reduce relapse rate in patients. This study, called the Sunbeam Study, is being funded by…
September 22, 2014 News by Maureen Newman New MS Therapy From Biogen Idec, AbbVie Reveals Positive Phase 3 Results in RRMS Patients Phase 3 clinical trial results from Biogen Idec and AbbVie presented at the Sixth Triennial Joint Meeting of the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis and the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS-ECTRMIS) suggest that relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients experience…