Disease modifying therapies (DMT)

New research from Italy and Spain demonstrated that intense immunosuppression followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) was better than the medication mitoxantrone in treating severe cases of multiple sclerosis. The study appeared in the February 11, 2015, online issue of Neurology.  MS is characterized by an immune system attack on the…

The Scottish Medicines Consortium has just approved Biogen Idec’s Plegridy (peg interferon beta-1a) for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) in patients between 18 to 65 years old, making the Consortium the first United Kingdom-based regulatory body to endorse the disease-modifying drug on the…

Canada has one of the world’s highest Multiple Sclerosis (MS) prevalence rates. Some 100,000 Canadians live with the disease, and three people are newly diagnosed each day. Most people are diagnosed with relapsing MS in their twenties and thirties, and MS is the most common neurological disease affecting young adults…

British Columbia’s PharmaCare drug program has announced that it will fund AUBAGIO, a therapy developed by Genzyme for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. AUBAGIO (teriflunomide) 14 mg has been officially added to PharmaCare’s provincial formulary as a first-line oral agent for patients suffering from relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). As…

The “2014 Multiple Sclerosis Therapeutic Update,” published in the journal Neurohospitalist by author Bruce Cree, MD, PhD, MCR, provides a positive outlook on the state of current treatments and research for future treatments of multiple sclerosis. A host of new therapies, as well as common-place…

Genzyme, a Sanofi company with over 30 years of dedication to researching and developing novel treatments for rare and orphan diseases, has just announced the Alberta Drug Program has finally decided to include Aubagio® (teriflunomide) 14mg in the provincial drug formulary, indicated for the first-line…

With 100,000 Canadians living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and three people newly diagnosed every day, Canada has one of the highest prevalence rates for the disease in the world. Most people are diagnosed with relapsing MS in their twenties and thirties, and MS is the most common neurological disease affecting…

Cambridge, Massachusetts based Genzyme announced Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the company’s new drug Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) for treatment of people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, which includes people who experience periodic MS attacks, such as those who have relapsing-remitting MS or secondary-progressive…

New Zealand-based Pharmaceutical Management Agency (PHARMAC) has approved the funding of new treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS), which are expected not only to reach more patients, but also be more effective in curtailing the disease’s progressive symptoms. The therapies currently funded are meant for the treatment of …

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, has announced that the Canadian province of Québec’s Institut national d’excellence en santé et services sociaux (INESSS) has recommended that the company’s multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) 12 mg be included on the provincial drug formulary under “Médicament d’exception” as a second-line treatment for…

A new study, entitled “The Effect of Glatiramer Acetate Therapy on Functional Properties of B Cells From Patients With Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis” published online in JAMA Neurology, reports the effect of Glatiramer acetate therapy on B cells in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. This first-of-its-kind study could…

San Francisco Bay Area-based Glialogix, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that specializes in developing novel treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS), announced yesterday that they have closed a Sponsored Research Agreement with Fast Forward, a non-profit organization that aims to accelerate MS treatment development. Glialogix will receive funding for one of their…

The first round of 22 research grants have been awarded to projects in nine countries by the International Progressive MS Alliance, with the goal of removing barriers to developing treatments for progressive MS. The 22 projects were chosen from 195 research proposals submitted by researchers in 22 countries and…

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…

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…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted the abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for filing of a Glatiramer Acetate Injection for the treatment of patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS).

The Pharmaceutical Management Agency (PHARMAC) is considering a funding proposal that includes five treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS), namely two key MS drugs,  Biogen‘s Tysabri and Novartis‘ Gilenya, that are not currently funded. PHARMAC is the New Zealand Crown agency that decides, on behalf of District…

Fingolimod is a disease modifying therapy (DMT) used to treat relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients as well as patients who continue to present with relapses despite treatment with beta interferon drugs, and is the first oral medication to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug…

Biogen Idec, a biotechnology company focused on developing innovative therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, hematologic conditions and autoimmune disorders, has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved PLEGRIDYTM (peginterferon beta-1a), a new treatment for people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis…

Regulus Therapeutics, Inc., a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company that specializes in the research and development of experimental drugs that target microRNAs, recently announced that it has signed a contract to work together with Biogen Idec. Under Regulus’ microMarkers™ project, the two companies will be collaborating on research efforts to…

Biogen Idec, a U.S. biotechnology company specializing in therapies for neurological disorders, autoimmune disorders and cancer, has announced that more than 60 company-sponsored presentations highlighting key data from its extensive portfolio of marketed and investigational multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies were featured during two 2014 neurology conferences. The company…

Research from the State University of New York at Buffalo suggests a protective link between interferon beta-1a treatment and brain volume loss (atrophy) in patients with relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis. Michael Dwyer, PhD, presented his study at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) and…

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…