A large proportion of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience headaches as a result of their condition, and treatment with interferon-based therapies seems to increase the risk of worsening headaches or developing new ones, a study found. In contrast, the CD20 antibody rituximab that’s used off-label in MS…

Alternative splicing, a biological process that allows a single gene to code for multiple proteins, is extensively disrupted in immune cells isolated from untreated multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, and long-term treatment with interferon beta-based therapies largely corrects the defects, a study found. “Alternative splicing is a potential biomarker warning…

Levels of certain inflammatory proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid, the liquid around the brain and spinal cord, may help predict the risk of relapse activity for individuals with early multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study found. High levels of three such proteins were predictive of a greater risk of…

More than half of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with self-injectable therapies — namely, glatiramer acetate, marketed as Copaxone, among others, or any of a host of interferons — showed no evidence of disease activity after two years, according to a study out of Turkey. Among patients treated for…

Editor’s note: The Multiple Sclerosis News Today team is providing in-depth coverage of the virtual 37th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), Oct. 13–15. Go here to see the latest stories from the…

Editor’s note: The Multiple Sclerosis News Today team is providing in-depth coverage of the 2021 Virtual AAN Annual Meeting, April 17–22. Go here to read the latest stories from the conference. Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that target CD20 are associated with worse outcomes from COVID-19 in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, an…

To fully understand autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), it is necessary to study not just the immune system, but also the tissue that the immune system is attacking, a study suggests. “We must move away from the present ‘immune-centric-only’ view of autoimmune diseases,” Decio Eizirik, MD, PhD, study…

Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) is as safe and effective in Hispanic/Latino multiple sclerosis (MS) patients as it is in their non-Hispanic and non-Latino peers, three-year data from a real-world study show. These interim findings, based on the largest group of Tecfidera-treated Hispanic and Latino MS patients studied to date, support the therapy’s…

Long-term treatment with interferon beta (IFN-beta) corrects the defective immune balance characteristic of people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a study has found. The study also identified more than 200 genes with significantly different activity between complete and partial responders to IFN-beta treatment, which could be used to identify which…

Interferon therapy (brand names Avonex, Betaseron, and others) is more effective than glatiramer acetate (sold as Copaxone, Glatopa and other generics) for reducing relapses…

With more high-efficacy therapies becoming available, is it now inappropriate to prescribe older injectables — interferon beta and glatiramer acetate — to people with active relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS)? This question was at the core of what was called a “burning debate” at this year’s European Committee…

The levels of the inflammatory molecule interleukin-22 (IL-22) may be used as a potential biomarker to evaluate disease severity and the effectiveness of treatments in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a new study shows. The study, “Impact of interferon β-1b, interferon β-1a and fingolimod therapies on serum…

Additional analysis of clinical data from Celgene’s investigational agent ozanimod continues to demonstrate its potential to benefit patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). Findings from the Phase 3 SUNBEAM and RADIANCE Part B trials were discussed at the 34th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and…

The newest kids on the MS block, disease-modifying therapies (DMT) such as Genentech’s Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and Sanofi Genzyme’s Lemtrada (alemtuzumab), are attracting a lot of interest these days. But, some DMTs that have been around for more than two decades are still being prescribed by a lot of neurologists.

U.S. nurses and physicians’ assistants prescribe antibody-based disease-modifying therapies to their multiple sclerosis patients more than neurologists do, a survey indicates. The trend has been for the doctors to stick with interferon therapies, the study said. Antibody-based disease-modifying therapies are also known as monoclonal antibodies. They are designed to harness the…

(Editor’s note: Tamara Sellman continues her occasional series on the MS alphabet with this column about terms starting with the letter I.) Symptoms of MS Incontinence A common symptom of MS, incontinence refers to an inability to control one’s…

Interferons (Beta and Alpha) are the oldest of the disease-modifying treatments, or DMTs, for people with MS. Interferons include Avonex, Betaseron, Rebif, and Plegridy. This column won’t get into the pros and cons of each of these treatments. Instead, I’d like to focus on one of the more…

A five-year study comparing the efficacy of different treatments for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) found that, in general, Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) and Tysabri (natalizumab) are more effective as therapies than Gilenya (fingolimod) and interferon β. Study results were presented in an oral presentation, “Comparison of 5-year treatment outcomes between alemtuzumab versus natalizumab, fingolimod and interferon β-1a,”…

Several clinical trials have shown that alemtuzumab (Lemtrada) effectively reduces relapse rates in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and improves disability in the early stages of the disease. A new study adds to evidence of the drug’s efficiency by finding that it affects different aspects of disability to varying degrees, a finding…

EMD Serono, the U.S. biopharmaceutical division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, recently announced that the results of the 15 year follow-up trial PRISMS-15 (Prevention of Relapses and Disability by Interferon beta-1a Subcutaneously in Multiple Sclerosis) evaluating Rebif® (interferon beta-1a), a high-dose, high-frequency interferon beta for the treatment of…

Bayer HealthCare is pleased to announce the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the approval of BETACONNECT, a first-of-its-kind electronic autoinjector indicated as a treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). For now, the drug delivery device is only compatible with BETASERON® (interferon beta-1b), and will soon be available come early 2016.  While…

Roche recently announced encouraging results on its investigational medicine ocrelizumab as a therapy for patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis, which includes either RRMS or SPMS with relapses. Ocrelizumab was evaluated in two pivotal studies (OPERA I and OPERA II), where it was compared to interferon (IFN) beta-1a (Rebif®), the standard-of-care…

Bayer HealthCare recently announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the filing of a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for BETACONNECT for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). BETACONNECT is a new drug delivery option for patients under Bayer’s BETASERON® (interferon beta-1b) therapy. MS is a…

 A study published by a team of investigators at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Medical Science and Osaka University’s Graduate School of Engineering presented new evidence demonstrating how Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) binds to pathogenic DNA, turning on the functions of the innate immune…