Six months of treatment with foralumab nasal spray led to significant functional improvements in the second patient with non-active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) who received treatment under a single-patient expanded access program. Findings from this patient have been generally consistent with those seen in the first non-active SPMS…
Drug information
The approved dosage of the multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy Ponvory (ponesimod) — 20 mg taken by mouth once daily — is appropriate for all adults with relapsing forms of MS, a new analysis of data from the OPTIMUM Phase 3 trial found. That analysis showed there was no…
My multiple sclerosis medications cost me a lot, even with good insurance. Yours probably do, too, if you don’t live in a country where the government picks up your drug costs. But now billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is taking a big bite out of the cost of some…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has placed a partial clinical hold on Phase 3 trials testing the investigational therapy tolebrutinib in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and myasthenia gravis based on reports of medication-induced liver injury. Under the clinical hold, new enrollment at U.S. sites…
Over the many years I’ve lived with multiple sclerosis (MS), I’ve used several medications to treat my MS symptoms. Some have helped, some haven’t, and some worked at first but then lost their efficacy. I recently returned to three of them that I’d stopped using for various reasons.
Biogen has secured a new patent in Europe covering the use of its oral therapy Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) for multiple sclerosis (MS) through 2028, the company announced. Granted by the European Patent Office, patent EP2653873 covers the composition and use of dimethyl fumarate at a dose of 480…
Treatment with the approved multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy dimethyl fumarate (DMF) did not affect the function of the thyroid gland, an organ that secretes hormones to regulate metabolism, a medical records study concluded. Screening for thyroid problems is not needed for people with MS considered for DMF therapy, the…
Lyvispah — a dissolvable granular formulation of baclofen — is now commercially available in the U.S. for adults and adolescents, 12 and older, with spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other spinal cord disorders. In people with MS, the strawberry-flavored formulation is particularly suitable to ease flexor…
Regular feedback from doctors about dosing data and health status is associated with high and sustained treatment adherence to Rebif (interferon beta-1a) among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients using the RebiSmart autoinjector, a two-year observational study shows. This study’s level of treatment adherence — 97.9% — was comparable or superior to the…
Tysabri (natalizumab) given every six weeks was found to be similarly effective as the standard four-week dosing schedule at stopping nervous system damage in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). That’s according to the full results of the Phase 3b NOVA clinical trial, which compared Tysabri dosing schedules…
Long-term treatment with evobrutinib safely and effectively reduces the rate of relapses in adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to 2.5 years of data from a Phase 2 extension study. These findings — supporting evobrutinib’s therapeutic potential in relapsing MS — were shared in an…
ANI Pharmaceuticals has announced the full U.S. commercial availability of Cortrophin Gel (repository corticotropin injection), an injectable therapy approved for managing acute relapses in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune disorders. “Patients with certain chronic autoimmune conditions often need additional treatment options,” Mary Pao Seideman, MD,…
Long-term treatment with Gilenya (fingolimod) in routine clinical practice is safe and effective for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a five-year study in Germany of more than 4,000 patients reported. Over time, relapses in the majority of study patients who continued with Gilenya became less common and less severe,…
A decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld the validity of a patent for dosing Novartis’ oral multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment Gilenya (fingolimod), the medication’s manufacturer announced. “With this decision, Novartis confirms that it expects no generic versions of Gilenya in the…
Note: This story was updated Jan. 12, 2022, to note that Ponvory is approved in the U.K. for people with relapsing forms of MS who have active disease, defined by clinical or imaging features. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended that Ponvory (ponesimod)…
Cortrophin Gel (repository corticotropin injection), an injectable gel medication approved for acute flares in multiple sclerosis (MS) and other chronic autoimmune diseases, is now available through the AllianceRx Walgreens Prime specialty pharmacy to patients living in the U.S. First approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)…
There is minimal evidence that the expensive anti-inflammatory medication Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection) is more effective than inexpensive corticosteroids for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other diseases, according to a new review paper. “We found no evidence where it was a conclusive slam dunk that…
The multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) triggers immune cell death by interacting with a protein called Keap-1, a new study reveals. The study, “Wdr1 and cofilin are necessary mediators of immune-cell-specific apoptosis triggered by Tecfidera,” was published in Nature Communications. Tecfidera is widely…
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will grant Medsenic a patent covering the use of Arscimed, its investigational formulation of arsenic trioxide, for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Once issued, the patent will protect Arscimed’s use for this indication until 2037. This will add to the already…
One year of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) treatment does not increase the risk for a rare brain infection — called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) — in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a study suggests. The study, “Risk Assessment of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy in Multiple Sclerosis Patients during…
Mutations in the John Cunningham virus may serve as an early predictor for a rare brain infection in multiple sclerosis patients receiving Tysabri (natalizumab), a study suggests. However, more research is required to investigate the specific mutations in the viral VP1 gene, and validate the risk of the…
I take a bunch of pills every day. Most of them are generics. I’ve used baclofen to treat my leg spasticity, oxybutynin for my bladder, and modafinil to fight fatigue. There’s also atorvastatin to keep my cholesterol in check, and levothyroxine to do the same for my…
A real-world study confirmed the effectiveness and safety of interferon beta-1b in treating older adults with multiple sclerosis (MS), those over the age of 40. “These findings from a real-world setting are promising and demonstrate the positive benefit-risk ratio for [interferon beta-1b] in this study population of middle-aged and…
Gilenya (fingolimod) at its approved 0.5 mg daily dose continues to be the optimal dose for people with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), a systematic review of 11 clinical trials confirmed. A 0.25 mg/day dose, however, also showed improvement over placebo in MRI outcomes and patient satisfaction, the researchers noted, and further…
Mayzent (siponimod) and Zeposia (ozanimod), the two sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulators most recently approved in Canada for treating multiple sclerosis (MS), showed strong launches in the country, according to the latest Spherix Global Insights’ report. However, due to several internal and external factors, sustained relevance of these…
Treatment with Mavenclad (clabridine) reduces the frequency of relapses in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), with benefits appearing to be evident two years after patients stopped taking the treatment, new data suggest. These findings were in the study, “Analysis of frequency and severity of relapses…
Previous treatment with oral Gilenya (fingolimod) is associated with a suboptimal response to Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) and an increased risk of secondary autoimmune disorders in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, a study reports. However, Lemtrada showed an efficacy in patients switching from various other disease…
The number of cases of Tysabri (natalizumab) that are associated with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) — a serious brain infection — in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients living in Sweden fell between 2006 and 2018, a study shows. Notably, the data highlighted that this drop was likely due to…
Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) was detected in the breast milk of two women using the oral therapy to treat their multiple sclerosis, but at concentrations well below the “theoretical threshold of concern” for an infant, a case study reported. According to its investigators, this is the first…
Eligible people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) now have access to Mavenclad (cladribine) through seven provincial public drug plans in Canada, including the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) and the Ontario Drug Benefit Exceptional Access Program. The oral treatment now is available through public drug programs…