Drug information

Lucid-MS, an oral small-molecule being developed by Quantum Biopharma for treating multiple sclerosis (MS), was found to be safe and well tolerated in healthy adult volunteers when given daily in a clinical study, according to the company’s latest CSR, or clinical study report. An earlier Phase 1…

Switching between CD20-targeting antibodies Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and Kesimpta (ofatumumab) doesn’t affect either’s effectiveness at lowering disease activity and slowing disability progression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a real-world study in Germany shows. Researchers did see a link between switching and a faster, continuous decrease of immunoglobulin…

Despite evidence supporting the safety of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) during pregnancy, women with multiple sclerosis (MS) in their childbearing years are significantly less likely than men in the same age range to receive these typically most effective treatments, according to a study from France. The researchers found what they…

Medications that can promote the repair of the myelin sheath — the protective coating around nerve cells in the body — may also help limit nerve damage in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new analysis of data from a small clinical trial testing an anticancer therapy called bexarotene…

In progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), treatment with estrogen hormones such as estradiol may help reduce inflammation and nerve damage — especially among patients for whom the disease may be triggered or worsened by viral infections — a mouse study has found. U.S. researchers investigating the impact of sex…

About 62% of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients use disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) before and during pregnancy, and the medications don’t appear to harm their health or their babies’ health, recently reported data from an international registry show. Most pregnancies resulted in live, full-term births, and these births generally occurred…

Fumarate-based therapies like Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) and Vumerity (diroximel fumarate) are equally effective among Black, Hispanic, Asian, and white adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the U.S., the largest real-world study of its kind shows. “The findings of this study suggest that fumarate medicines…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who are treated with formulations of botulinum toxin to manage spasticity generally report being satisfied with the treatment, a new study reports. The study examined the use of these formulations in people with spasticity due to a number of conditions, the most common…

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden said they have identified 18 new potential protein drug targets to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) using an integrative analytical approach. A drug target is a molecule, typically a protein, within the body that’s often involved in disease processes. Some of the newly…

Anti-CD20 therapies, a type of treatment approved for multiple sclerosis (MS), alter the activity of several types of immune cells, including increasing the levels of certain anti-inflammatory immune cells. That’s according to the study “Transcriptomic profiling after B cell depletion reveals central and peripheral immune cell…

In healthy adults, a single low dose of Immutep’s immunosuppressive candidate IMP761 continues to be safe and appears to reduce the activity of T-cells — immune cells that become overactive in multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases. This is according to data from an ongoing Phase…

Two of three groups — one composed of people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), and the other comprising healthy volunteers — have been fully enrolled in a Phase 1b clinical trial that’s testing a new anti-inflammatory drug being developed by Contineum Therapeutics. The Phase 1b…

A new low-cost version of Tecfidera, a widely used oral therapy for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), is now available in the U.S. for a fraction of the typical cost. Launched by Civicascript, this generic form of dimethyl fumarate is expected to significantly improve access to…

Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) appears to be safe and effective for children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to real-world data from Kuwait. After about 15 months of treatment, more than 90% of patients with pediatric-onset MS (POMS) remained free of relapses, and most also showed no new…

Almost two years of treatment with fenebrutinib — an investigational oral tablet for multiple sclerosis (MS) — helped patients with relapsing forms of the disease remain nearly free of relapses and disability progression. That’s according to new data from the open-label extension of FENopta (NCT05119569), a Phase…

Alvotech, a developer of biosimilar medicines, is expanding its partnership with Advanz Pharma to commercialize three new products in Europe — one of them a biosimilar of Kesimpta (ofatumumab), a drug used for treating multiple sclerosis (MS). Biosimilars are therapies that have no clinically meaningful differences…

As a whole, disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) tend to reduce the risk of stroke among patients, though their impact varies depending on the type of medication that’s taken. Those are the findings of a new analysis of published studies by scientists in Europe, who noted…

Clemastine fumarate, an antihistamine, boosted disease progression by more than five times in adults with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), according to data from a Phase 1/2 trial. “Likely nobody in the MS field, us included, knew about this potential [clemastine] toxicity until we collected the data presented here,” the…

Tysabri (natalizumab), an approved treatment for forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), can be safely used during pregnancy or while breastfeeding, a study showed. “The findings of our observational study offer … relevant insight into the safety profile of [Tysabri] therapy not only during pregnancy but also during breastfeeding,”…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new generic form of glatiramer acetate injection, a treatment for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) that was originally approved under the brand name Copaxone. The generic was developed by Zydus Lifesciences in collaboration with Chemi S.p.A.,…

In people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) treated with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), levels of B-cells can help to predict the risk of progression independent of relapse activity, a new study reports. “Our results unveil a discernible relationship between the degree of B-cell depletion and disease progression in…

Injections of methotrexate into the spinal canal given every three months were safe and well tolerated, and helped adults with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) maintain stable disease levels for up to nine years. That’s according to data from a small, open-label Phase 1 clinical study (NCT02644044)…

Foralumab was well tolerated in people with nonactive secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), according to data from a small, open-label study conducted under an expanded access program. The therapy, being developed by Tiziana Life Sciences, also eased fatigue and lessened disability in some participants. The promising findings formed…

Vidofludimus calcium, an experimental oral therapy from Immunic Therapeutics, reduced the risk of confirmed disability worsening and slowed brain shrinkage in people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). That’s according to top-line data from CALLIPER (NCT05054140), a Phase 2 clinical trial testing a daily dose of…

Bionxt Solutions is getting ready to launch a pilot clinical trial to test BNT23001, its sublingual (under-the-tongue) version of cladribine to treat multiple sclerosis (MS). The treatment would be an alternative to Mavenclad, the approved tablet form of cladribine. Bionxt‘s thin-film formulation quickly dissolves under the tongue,…

One year of Tysabri (natalizumab) treatment improves working ability among people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to new data from TITAN, an observational study by researchers in France that assessed the impact of the infusion therapy. Use of the approved therapy resulted in improvements across several parameters:…

Rituximab, sometimes used off-label as a multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment, may be as effective — at a much lower cost to patients — as the approved therapy Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) at managing relapsing forms of the disease, a new study from Egypt suggests. The study’s results showed that the…

From 2019 to 2023, people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in France on treatment with Tysabri (natalizumab) adopted more at-home dosing and longer periods between doses, according to a review by researchers of the French national hospital database. An increasing use of the therapy during…

Sanofi‘s oral BTK inhibitor tolebrutinib significantly delayed the onset of six-month confirmed disability progression compared with a placebo, by 31%, in people with nonrelapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). That’s according to recently published data from the HERCULES Phase 3 trial (NCT04411641), where the experimental therapy…

Treatment during pregnancy with the approved multiple sclerosis (MS) medication Copaxone (glatiramer acetate injection) does not appear to increase the risk of birth defects in infants, and its use while breastfeeding is not linked to growth problems in the youngsters, according to follow-up data of mothers and their children…