With the recent approval of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) for both primary progressive and relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), interest in the medication is peaking. To help readers of Multiple Sclerosis News Today better understand this new medication and how it works, as well issues dealing with access, use, and potential side effects, here is a summary…

At long last, and for the first time in medical history, people with both relapsing and primary progressive forms of multiple sclerosis have reason to celebrate. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved Ocrevus (ocrelizumab)  as a disease-modifying therapy for both forms of MS, a chronic autoimmune disease.

Twenty years ago, the idea that B-cell depletion could treat multiple sclerosis would have been greeted with a hearty laugh by any well-respected neurologist or MS researcher — or perhaps a scoff. But times change and research advances. Today, a medicine that gets rid of certain B-cells may be the most powerful drug yet developed against…

The immune system B-cells responsible for producing antibodies are different in those who develop multiple sclerosis (MS) as children, than in those who develop it as adults, a study shows. The research, “B-cell populations discriminate between pediatric- and adult-onset multiple sclerosis,” was published in the journal Neurology: Neuroimmunology & NeuroInflammation. Because only 3…

Early data from TG Therapeutics’ Phase 2 trial of its B-cell-targeting experimental multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment ublituximab (TG-1101), showed that the drug is well-tolerated and effectively reduces B-cells in the blood. MS therapies that deplete B-cells have been effective in relapsing and progressive forms of MS. Like other B-cell-targeting drugs in…

Recently published data from three Phase 3 trials of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) show that the investigational drug does what no other therapy has achieved so far — working to prevent disease in both relapsing and primary progressive (PP) forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Publications in the New England Journal…

The experimental therapy laquinimod was seen to prevent the start of harmful immune responses and to disrupt the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a mouse model of the disease. This finding may be especially promising, as the treatment is being developed for people with both relapsing MS and its rarer progressive…

Scientists recently reported additional mechanisms of action that may underlie Gilenya (fingolimod) beneficial effects in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The results were in an oral presentation, “Fingolimod therapy modulates B cell functions: reduces CXCR4-mediated migration and increases B cell -mediated anti-inflammatory cytokine profile,” given at the 32nd Congress of the European Committee for Treatment…

Patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) are being recruited for a clinical trial evaluating an experimental monoclonal antibody called ublituximab, the National MS Society announced in a recent news release. The study, being conducted at seven U.S. sites, will enroll at least 24 patients, but this number can go up to 100. MS is considered to be…

Researchers investigating immune B-cell response to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) found that it may correlate with the amount of brain-specific B-cells in the blood — a marker of multiple sclerosis (MS) — and with higher disease activity. The findings were published in the journal Viruses, in…

Mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS), were found to have milder symptoms if the target of natalizumab (Tysabri) — VLA4 — was absent on B-cells, preventing regulatory cells that might control immune processes from entering the brain. B-cells are increasingly thought to play…

Clinical trials have shown that ocrelizumab — an antibody targeting B-cells — is effective in multiple sclerosis (MS). As a result, some researchers and clinicians claim that B-cell depletion is a sufficient therapy in MS, and that drugs targeting other immune cells are obsolete. Not everyone agrees. A debate at…

Sanofi Genzyme, one of the companies participating in the four-day 10th World Congress on Controversies in Neurology (CONy) in Lisbon, Portugal, that concluded on March 20, 2016, supported several symposiums focused on multiple sclerosis (MS) — including one on B-cell and T-cell therapies. For over a decade, Sanofi Genzyme has worked to develop effective therapies…

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society awarded a $700,000 research grant to Dr. Bonnie Dittel, a senior investigator at the BloodCenter of Wisconsin (BCW) and adjunct professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The grant will help Dr. Dittel advance her research into how specific immune cells in the body can…

In a recent study entitled “Equivalent Gene Expression Profiles between Glatopa™ and Copaxone®,” authors determined potential differences in treatment responses by investigating the gene expression profile of two approved treatments for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis – Copaxone and Glatopa. Both of these MS therapies are glatiramer…

In a new study entitled “The brain antigen-specific B cell response correlates with glatiramer acetate responsiveness in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients,” a team of scientists discovered that differences in response to glatiramer acetate therapy among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients is potentially dependent on the presence of reactive brain-specific B…

New research work from GlaxoSmithKline presented by Daren Ausin, PhD, at the American Academy of Neurology’s 66th Annual Meeting has implications for individuals with relapsinig-remitting multiple sclerosis. The presentation detailed a study that used GlaxoSmithKline’s ofatumumab in 231 patients with relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis. Ofatumumab is an anti-B-cell antibody, and it…