Drug information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug status to combinations of VTS-Aspirin plus fumarate therapy using Vumerity (diroximel fumarate) or Bafiertam (monomethyl fumarate) for easing flush in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). In the U.S., orphan drug designation is given to…

Nimodipine, an approved medication to prevent brain damage caused by hemorrhage, can be used to prevent spasticity following a spinal cord injury, a mouse study shows. In addition to spinal cord injury, nimodipine may be a promising treatment for neurodegenerative disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and…

People with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) who began treatment with Mayzent early and continued its use for years are less likely to experience disability progression than those starting the medication later in their disease course, five-year data from the EXPAND study suggest. Data from this same Phase 3…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have accepted applications from Genentech to shorten the infusion time for Ocrevus, an approved treatment for multiple sclerosis. If approved, the time to administer Ocrevus will be shortened to a two-hour session, instead…

Fampyra, Aid for Walking, Favored for Inclusion in NHS Scotland I used Ampyra, as Fampyra is known in the U.S., for about a year. It improved my walking a little, but I had to give it up due to cost. It’s been available in the States for a decade,…

After being rejected twice in the last four years, Fampyra (fampridine; marketed as Ampyra in the U.S.) is now being recommended by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) for use in the country’s National Health System (NHS) to treat walking disabilities in adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). Scotland…

Tysabri (natalizumab) is safe and shows robust, real-world effectiveness at reducing the frequency of relapses in people  with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), 10 years of data from a large, observational study report. Findings were reported in “Long-term safety and effectiveness of natalizumab treatment…

Happy Lemtrada anniversary to me! It’s been two years since I completed my second round of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) infusions, and I’m happy to say that the results have been good. Not everyone’s experience with Lemtrada will mirror mine, but I don’t think I’m much different than most. My brain MRI…

Treatment with Gilenya (fingolimod) could make people with multiple sclerosis (MS) more vulnerable to the parasitic infection known as cryptosporidiosis, a case report suggests. The report, “Cryptosporidiosis after treatment with fingolimod: a case report and pharmacovigilance review,” was published in the jorunal BMC Infectious Diseases. Gilenya…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum post “MS Treatment Eases Flare-up Symptoms After 2 Months” from Oct.

Zeposia’s recent approval in the U.S. is exciting news for all in the MS community. Unfortunately, we will need to table that excitement a bit longer. Despite its approval, the treatment’s commercial distribution will be delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. I am confident, however, that it will be…

Plegridy (peginterferon beta-1a) and Avonex (interferon beta-1a), both by Biogen, may be used — if necessary — by women with relapsing multiple sclerosis who are pregnant or breastfeeding, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in updating prescribing information for these MS treatments. Due to the limited…

For multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with considerable disability, Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) appears to lower the risk of continued progression in both relapsing and primary progressive forms of the disease, data from an exploratory and post-hoc analysis of three Phase 3 trials report. These findings were in the study, “…

Truxima, a biosimilar of rituximab, is comparable to the originator therapy in terms of effectiveness and safety for treating multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study suggests. Rituximab — marketed as Rituxan in the United States — is an antibody-based therapy that works by killing B-cells, which are immune cells…

EHP-101, a cannabidiol-derived investigational therapy being developed by Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals (EHP) to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), is not a controlled substance in Canada, the company announced. The active ingredient in EHP-101 is a derivative of cannabidiol, abbreviated CBD. This is one of the most well-known active compounds in…

ANI Pharmaceuticals is asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the right to reintroduce in the U.S. market its Cortrophin Gel (repository corticotropin injection, 80 U/ml) to treat acute exacerbations in multiple sclerosis (MS) and other diseases. Currently, the only repository corticotropin injection available in…

Oral treatment with Gilenya (fingolimod) is more effective than Avonex (interferon beta-1a) for controlling brain lesion activity and brain volume loss in children with pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS), two-year results of the PARADIGMS study show. That means Gilenya provides an effective treatment option for…

The risk of invasive cancer may be slightly higher in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with Gilenya (fingolimod) compared with those treated with rituximab, and with people from the general population, a Swedish study suggests. The study, “Cancer Risk for Fingolimod, Natalizumab, and Rituximab…

People with multiple sclerosis have unique concerns about the new coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease that it causes. Many of us use disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that suppress our immune systems and give us an extra element to worry about when we plan our defense against this virus. To help us…

Monthly under-the-skin injections of Novartis’ investigational candidate ofatumumab show promise as a convenient, effective, and safe therapeutic option for people with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). Data from the ASCLEPIOS and APLIOS clinical trials showed that ofatumumab — currently under regulatory review for possible approval in the U.S. and Europe…

Ponesimod may soon be a new oral therapy for people with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) in Europe, and a filing for its approval in the U.S. is likely within weeks. Janssen Pharmaceuticals, its developer, submitted an application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in early March, a first ponesimod filing…

Starting treatment with a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) reduces blood levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL) — a potential biomarker of disease progression and activity — to varying degrees depending on the therapy used, according to a large real-world study of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The findings support…

FAQs About Coronavirus and MS As the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease spreads around the world, people with multiple sclerosis are asking questions specifically related to our illness and our medications. These FAQs answer many of those questions. The recent outbreak of a novel…

By the end of this month, another disease-modifying therapy (DMT) for multiple sclerosis may be available in the U.S. Ozanimod is an investigational daily pill for the treatment of relapsing MS. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to decide…

A signaling molecule of the immune system called interleukin 13 (IL-13) may modulate the function of key immune cells involved in multiple sclerosis (MS), and their migration through the barrier that protects the brain and spinal cord. IL-13 is an “attractive molecule” and a potential avenue for treating MS,…

Ozanimod — an investigational oral therapy up for approval to treat relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) — lowers the number of white blood cells circulating in the blood, supporting its ability to ease inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. But this treatment also does not affect all…

Immune cells from patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) respond differently to Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) based on age, gender, and serum blood glucose levels, a study found.  The results suggest these patient-specific factors can modulate the response of immune cells, and should be…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients switching from Tysabri (natalizumab) to other disease-modifying therapies may have an increased risk of disease activity, though the risk is lower if the switch is limited to three months, a study found. The results were published in an article, “Effect of…

AB Science‘s masitinib significantly slowed disability progression in people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) and non-active secondary progressive MS (SPMS) at a lower dose of 4.5 mg/kg a day, top-line results from a Phase 2b/3 clinical trial show. Masitinib, formerly known as AB1010, is an oral…

Pheno Therapeutics, a spin-off from the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland, will search for new molecules capable of inducing the body to repair or replace the myelin sheath that is damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS). In MS, the body’s own immune system mistakes…