clinical trials

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…

The nonprofit organization Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis is going to sponsor the launch of the Optimizing Treatment – Understanding Progression (OPT-UP) study in collaboration with biopharmaceutical company EMD Serono, Inc, a subsidiary of the german Merck KGaA. The study will enroll 2,500 MS…

Biogen Idec revealed data from its second year of the phase 3 ADVANCE clinical trial for the study of Plegridy as a treatment for patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, which demonstrated the positive effects of the subcutaneous injectable therapy beyond the first year…

During the 30th Congress of the European Committee for Research and Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) last week in Boston, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TEVA), together with Active Biotech (NASDAQ OMX NORDIC:ACTI), presented new follow-up data evaluating the clinical safety of laquinimod in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS)…

Biogen Idec presented the five-year results from its ENDORSE phase 3 extension study of Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate), which revealed that the treatment is able to provide strong and sustained efficacy to patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), at last week’s ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS summit. Not only did…

Biopharmaceutical company Receptos, Inc. announced that they will review data from the phase 2 portion of the RADIANCE trial, the company’s phase 2 / 3 study testing RPC1063 in the treatment of Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis (RMS). The data is being presented at the largest meeting dedicated to multiple sclerosis…

Transparency Life Sciences, LLC (TLS), the first clinical-stage drug development company based on open innovation in the world, recently received a $1.4 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant intended for its phase IIa proof-of-concept study, which is assessing the utility of the ACE inhibitor lisinopril as an adjunctive treatment for patients with multiple…

Those attending this week’s ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS convention set to take place on the 10th of September until the 13th in Boston, can expect Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis to present promising findings on Gilenya (fingolimod) — the company’s leading oral formulation for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). In previously completed studies and clinical trials,…

A novel therapeutic from GeNeuro to treat multiple sclerosis showed promising results in a one-year, open-label extension phase 2a clinical trial. GeNeuro tested its first-in-class GNbAC1 monoclonal antibody in ten multiple sclerosis patients, nine of whom have primary or secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. “We are very excited by the…

Low dose naltrexone (LDN) may be on its way to becoming a new therapeutic agent for multiple sclerosis. Evidence for its efficacy in attenuating multiple sclerosis symptoms is scarce, but results of a phase 3 clinical trial, “A Randomized Placebo-Controlled, Crossover-Design Study of the Effects…

In spite of an eight week delay, New Zealand-based Innate Immunotherapeutics is still planning to enroll patients for its phase 2b clinical trial that will study the experimental drug MIS416 for secondary progressive MS. The clinical research organization (CRO) involved in the management of the trial informed the company about the…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently notified Concert Pharmaceuticals that the company had fulfilled all necessary preclinical toxicological tests for the oral therapy CTP-354 for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and spasticity. The authorization to administer repeated doses of the compound, in excess of 6 mg per day,…

Alkermes plc is looking to add one more treatment to the repertoire for multiple sclerosis drugs by initiating a Phase 1 clinical trial study of ALKS 8700. This novel molecule, developed by Alkermes, will be evaluated for safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics. “We expect the results of this study to…

Startup biotech company ImStem Biotechnology is looking to raise additional funding for their upcoming clinical trials after publishing promising research on a unique stem-cell treatment used on mice with multiple sclerosis.  The company has already received previous funding…

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) initiated a clinical trial to evaluate the antihistamine clemastine fumarate, manufactured by Novartis as Tavist, for its efficacy in treating multiple sclerosis patients. The laboratory of Dr. Jonah Chan, a professor of neurology at UCSF, used a high-throughput method to identify Tavist…

Australian biotechnology company Innate Immunotherapeutics’ trial for a drug designed to treat secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) has produced positive results. Innate’s experimental MIS416 has revealed benefits to the majority of SPMS patients who were prescribed it as a “compassionate use drug,” given the total lack of…

Multiple sclerosis patients may soon benefit from StemGenex’s leading resource of adult adipose stem cells. StemGenex is now recruiting patients for a clinical trial investigating the regenerative potential of multiple sclerosis patients’ autologous stem cells derived from their own stromal vascular fraction. “Currently available drugs for multiple…

Biogen Idec, who recently presented over 60 company-sponsored presentations at the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers and the Sixth Cooperative Meeting with Americas Committee for Treatment and…

A study involving a clinical trial treating multiple sclerosis patients with sensory training was published in Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation and reports optimistic results. Lead author Davide Cattaneo,…

Following the promising results of prior trials, Receptos, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the treatment of immune and metabolic diseases, announced that the Phase 2 portion of the RADIANCE trial has met the primary endpoint, a reduction in MRI brain lesion activity in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis…

Biogen Idec is currently sponsoring a clinical trial evaluating its therapy Tysabri (natalizumab) in patients with secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis. Although relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis is more common and well-researched, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates approximately half of relapse-remitting patients will transition to secondary-progressive within 19 years of diagnosis. The…

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, a drug development company working on treatments that modulate therapeutically important immune responses with the help of T-cells, recently acquired the worldwide rights (apart from China), to conduct pre-clinical studies to produce products for possible therapies to treat and manage Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

Positive study results from a preliminary phase II clinical trial for a new potential therapeutic intervention for the treatment of patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) were recently released at the American Academy of Neurology’s Annual Meeting in Philadelphia by Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, M.D., from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc., a drug delivery company based in The Woodlands, Texas, has been making significant progress in researching and developing Tcelna®, a breakthrough T-cell immunotherapy for multiple sclerosis (MS). The company recently announced they have reached their enrollment mark for conducting a Phase IIb clinical trial to test Tcelna as a viable…

One of the most common and troublesome symptoms of multiple sclerosis is spasticity. Patients with spasticity experience involuntary muscle spasms and muscle stiffness, which interfere with daily activities. An imbalance in the signals from the brain and spinal cord in the central nervous system increase the excitability of muscles,…

The National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, based in Japan, announced that they will initiate a 3-month clinical trial on 9 patients with multiple sclerosis, beginning in March. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease caused by mutations of lymphocyte immune cells, which attack and destroy a patient’s own nerve cells. Patients with multiple sclerosis typically…