Welcome to “MS News Notes,” a column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at some of what’s been happening: A good report for Vumerity Final results are in from the EVOLVE-MS-1 clinical trial for patients with…
MS relapse
Nearly two years of treatment with Vumerity (diroximel fumarate) significantly reduced relapse rates by more than 80% in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to the final published details of the EVOLVE-MS-1 clinical trial. MRI scans also showed the number of active inflammatory lesions and new…
Welcome to “MS News Notes,” a column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at some of what’s been happening. MS relapses and COVID-19 Since COVID-19 became a concern over three years ago, I’ve read many comments…
COVID-19 doesn’t appear to increase the likelihood of a relapse, where new symptoms suddenly appear or existing ones worsen, for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a meta-analysis of more than a dozen studies. The findings alleviate some of the concerns MS patients may have about developing COVID-19,…
A high level of adherence to disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) is associated with a significant, 25% lower risk of moderate or severe relapses in previously untreated people with multiple sclerosis (MS) compared with those failing to adhere to therapy, according to a study of real-world data in Italy. High…
Immunic Therapeutics has been notified of the intent to grant a U.S. patent covering the use vidofludimus calcium (IMU-838) in treating relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) at a daily dose of about 10 to 45 mg. That range covers the two IMU-838 doses shown to be…
A stem cell transplant was found to be better than Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) for lowering disease activity and slowing disability worsening in people with highly active relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), a small study in Lithuania showed. While both treatments were similarly effective in the first couple of…
A scoring system that accounts for relapses and MRI activity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients during their first year on an oral disease-modifying therapy (DMT) was found to be predictive of worse short-term outcomes for people with relapsing forms of the neurodegenerative disorder, a study showed. “The occurrence of…
A patient’s ability to cope with and recover from adversity — called psychological resilience — was found to impact the observed relationship between fear of relapse and life quality among people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in a new study. Essentially, MS patients who had…
Losing the sense of smell is associated with a higher likelihood of worse disease outcomes for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a six-year follow-up study. Specifically, patients who are getting worse at identifying and discriminating odors are at higher risk of disability worsening, relapse-independent MS progression, and…
Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients had significantly more sickness-related work absences in the years leading up to their disease onset than people in the general population, a recent Swedish analysis showed. Scientists believe the findings support the growing notion that there is an MS prodrome, during which early signs of…
Treatment with the investigational therapy fenebrutinib significantly reduced the number of new inflammatory lesions visible on MRI scans in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Pharmacological data from the study suggest the anti-inflammatory experimental medication can get into the brain and spinal cord at levels high…
Treatment with tolebrutinib for up to nearly three years was tied to low relapse rates, stable disability, and few new brain lesions among people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new data from the long-term safety (LTS) extension of a Phase 2b trial. The data…
A clinical trial that was testing if treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) could be discontinued in people with stable disease was terminated early after several patients who stopped treatment saw new disease activity. The findings support the continued use of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) even by those who haven’t…
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who switch between more than two disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) have a higher risk of relapses compared with those who never switch, regardless of how well these patients adhere to their prescribed medications, according to real-world study in Canada. These findings are consistent with…
Most disability worsening events happen independent of relapse activity across all types of multiple sclerosis (MS), including clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and early relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), a new study reports. The findings challenge the idea that relapses are the main driver of disability worsening in early relapsing…
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who experience a greater number of more severe flare-ups, also known as relapses, are more likely to take their medications regularly, but less likely to keep taking them over time, a review study has found. Other factors associated with better treatment adherence and persistence…
Among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), most of the disability worsening they experience is not associated with any relapse activity, according to an analysis of real-world data. “We present real-world data from our multiple sclerosis center underlining that in a typical population of relapsing MS…
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) under treatment with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) commonly experience fluctuations in the severity of their symptoms — but these changes aren’t related to the timing of Ocrevus infusions, a study reports. Although many patients on Ocrevus report a ‘wearing off’ effect between infusions, findings suggest…
Certain COVID-19 vaccines do not appear to worsen the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), and may provide protection for at least six months after a booster dose, according to a study in Spain. The study specifically examined mRNA vaccines, or those that use a piece of RNA to teach…
Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) have significantly lower relapse rates after entering menopause, but disability levels increase significantly in that period, according to a pooled analysis of studies. The findings are consistent with a decrease in immune activity with age and loss of estrogen, leading to fewer disease-related relapses,…
I’ve never been one to worry too much about what my purpose in life is. It’s not that I’m incapable of being philosophical, or that I was ever too egotistical to think I needed one. I suppose I just thought that if I had a purpose, it’d work…
Anokion has finished enrolling patients in the second part of its Phase 1 clinical trial investigating ANK-700 for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Safety data so far from the MoveS-it trial (NCT04602390) has shown the treatment is safe and well tolerated and biomarker analyses suggest it can induce…
How do you start a column about depression that isn’t, well, depressing? That’s a question for me to answer rather than you lot. If you’re still reading this week’s musings, then so far I’ve done pretty darned good. It was a confluence of events that fortunately involved water. I’d…
Lightning struck at 3 a.m. the other night. The alarm system in my apartment blared — beep, beep, beep — for hours. The dog was barking, the cat was zooming, and I wasn’t sleeping. My stress meter was off the scale. We know that stress can trigger of…
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who receive vaccines against influenza — commonly known as flu shots — as well as diphtheria, polio, pneumoccocus, and multiple other pathogens are not significantly more likely to be hospitalized due to a disease relapse, according to a new study in France. Similar…
“Being diagnosed later in life is like watching a TV show with a huge plot twist revealed at the end of the season and then rewatching it with this new knowledge, picking up on all the foreshadowing and getting upset that you didn’t see all of it before.” —…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Tyruko (natalizumab-sztn) as the first biosimilar of Tysabri to treat adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The decision also marks the first approval of any biosimilar for MS in the country, according to the regulatory agency.
Children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS) who receive high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) early on are significantly less likely to experience a relapse than those given a less efficacious drug, a real-world study found. While most patients on moderate-efficacy therapies eventually switched to a more effective one, a…
By now, I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures of the wildfires that charred Maui, Hawaii. As I write this, a week after the blaze, The Associated Press reports that more than 100 people have been killed, and the governor expects “scores more.” Some neighborhoods are gone. People literally…