#MSParis2017

#MSParis2017 – Merck Announces Winners of 1 Million Euro Grant for Innovative Multiple Sclerosis Research

Research teams from Canada, Portugal and the United States, each with projects focused on predicting and defining characteristics ofĀ multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā , will share this year’s 1 million euro ($1,165,700)Ā Grant for Multiple Sclerosis Innovation (GMSI), announced byĀ MerckĀ at theĀ 7thĀ Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meetingĀ in Paris, France,…

#MSParis2017 – Almost Half of MS Patients Fail to Report Relapses, Two Surveys Show

Nearly half of multiple sclerosis patients do not always report their relapses to healthcare providers, two surveys indicate. MallinckrodtĀ sponsored the surveys to betterĀ understand patients’ experience with relapses, whichĀ are sudden episodes of new symptoms or worsening of existing symptoms. The company presented the survey results at the 7th joint meeting…

#MSParis2017 ā€“ EVOLVE-MS-1 Interim Trial Data Shows Alkermes Therapy Safe for Treating Relapsing MS

Preliminary data from the Phase 3 EVOLVE-MS-1 trial shows thatĀ ALKS 8700Ā ā€” an investigative therapy developed byĀ AlkermesĀ to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis ā€” has a good safety and tolerability profile. ALKS 8700 is an oral compound. Once inside the body, it is rapidly transformed into the therapeutic compound monomethyl fumarate (MMF). Although similar, this drug candidate was designed to offer features different than those achieved with the commercially available Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate). Alkermes is currently assessing the safety and efficacy of ALKS 8700 in the EVOLVE-MS program, which includes two Phase 3 clinical trials in patients with relapsing-remitting MS. The EVOLVE-MS-1 is a two-year study being conducted in 107 U.S. and European research sites. It will evaluate the long-term safety of ALKS 8700 in some 930 RRMS patients. Interim data collected during the first month of treating 580 participants showed low incidence of GI adverse events, with no reports of serious events. The most common adverse side effects associated with the treatment were flushing, pruritus and diarrhea. Alkermes, which is based in Ireland, said additional results from the initial three months of treatment further supported the positive safety data of ALKS 8700, with only 2.3 percent of patients reporting serious adverse events and 3.7 percent having to stop treatment. The EVOLVE-MS-2 trial, being conducted at 48 U.S. sites, will compare the safety and efficacy of ALKS 8700 versus Tecfidera in RRMS patients. The study is still recruiting participants. Recent data of EVOLVE-MS-2 was also subject of a poster presentation at the ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting.

#MSParis2017 – GNbAC1 Promotes Restoration of Protective Myelin Coating, Phase 2b Trial Shows

GeNeuro‘s humanized antibodyĀ GNbAC1Ā promotes the rejuvenation of the myelin coating that protects nerve cells in patients withĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, or RRMS, a Phase 2 clinical trial shows. The treatment is also safe, the study showed. Dr. Hans-Peter Hartung of theĀ Heinrich-Heine-University DĆ¼sseldorfĀ in Germany presented the results at theĀ 7th…

#MSParis2017 ā€“ Promising Work in Pediatric and Secondary Progressive Patients Is Focus, Novartis Says in Interview

Gilenya (fingolimod) lowered relapse rates in children and adolescents with relapsing multiple sclerosis at a “magnitude” ā€” almost 82 percent ā€” never before seen in a scientific study and could be “life changing” for these hard-to-treat patients, a top researcher withĀ Novartis, the treatment’s developer, said in an…

#MSParis2017 – Ibudilast Slows Loss of Brain Tissue in MS Patients, Phase 2 Trial Shows

The Japanese companyĀ MediciNova‘s anti-inflammatory agentĀ ibudilast slows multiple sclerosis patients’ brain shrinkage and their loss of the protective myelin coating around nerve cells, a Phase 2 clinical trial shows. Robert J. Fox of Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic Neurological InstituteĀ presented the results at theĀ 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS MeetingĀ in Paris, Oct. 25-28.

#MSParis2017 – Aerobic Exercise Seen to Quickly Strengthen Brain Connections in Patients

Aerobic exercise strengthens brain connections in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, Jan-Patrick Stellmann, with University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany, reported at theĀ 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting in Paris that ran from Oct. 25ā€“28. According to Stellmann, "aerobic exercises are considered to improve mobility, fatigue, depression and cognition in MS," and also to "promote neuroprotective or neuroregenerative mechanisms." For the study, the team used MRI to examine how exercise affected different types of brain connections. They recruited 57 RRMS patients and 30 healthy controls to the study. Women made up more than two-thirds of the patient group, which had a mean age of 39. Patients only had mild disability, with a mean score of 1.5 on the Expanded Disability Status Scale. Researchers randomly assigned about half the group to a supervised and individually adapted aerobic exercise program, consisting of 22 sessions of up to one hour each. Others were assigned to a waiting list ā€” with the intent of taking up exercise after three months ā€” and served as a control group. MRI scans at the study's beginning revealed that patients had more so-called functional connections, but fewer structural ones, than healthy controls. It is known from earlier studies that most RRMS patients show abnormalities in functional connections, but some researchers find increases while others decreases in these connections. Functional and structural connections appear on different types of MRI scans ā€” ones that make use either of blood flow changes or of the properties of water molecules in the white matter of the brain. The deviations were particularly pronounced in highly connected hub regions, the researchers said. After three months, functional connections increased across the entire brain among exercising patients, but decreased in those on the waiting list. Structural connections also increased among patients who exercised, while no change was detected among control patients. Researchers also noted that exercising patients grew more local connections, mostly in hub regions, compared to those who did not exercise. While it is generally accepted that aerobic exercise promotes neuroprotective and regenerative processes within the brain, the study demonstrated that exercise, in only three months, did indeed affect how the brain is wired. "Short-term aerobic exercise increases functional and structural connectivity,"Ā Stellmann concluded. "Already after three months, exercise lead to functional and structural reorganization of brain networks." The researcher highlighted the difficulties in obtaining financial support for trials on exercise. And he emphasized that patients should be encouraged by their doctors to exercise regularly.

#MSParis2017 ā€“ Early High-Efficacy Treatment Reduces Disability Accumulation in Young MS Patients

While early use of high-efficacy treatments lowers relapse rates among patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) compared to lower-efficacy ones, starting these therapies earlier may only impact the accumulation of disability among young patients, according to data presented at the 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting in Paris, France. Earlier treatment…

#MSParis2017 ā€“ Quitting Smoking, Boosting Vitamin D Reduces MS Healthcare Costs, Improves Outcomes

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who quit smoking have better health outcomes than those who continue. Therefore, MS-relatedĀ costs can be reduced by encouraging smokers toĀ quit. Similar results were observed in MS patients with healthy vitamin D levels,Ā Maura Pugliatti,Ā from theĀ University of Ferrara, in Italy,Ā said Friday in a presentation at the…

#MSParis2017 ā€“ Beta-Interferon Therapies May Increase Survival of MS Patients, Study Suggests

Long-term exposure of at least three years of beta-interferon therapies such as Rebif or AvonexĀ may increase the survival of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, a population-based study suggests. The study reporting the findings, titled ā€œBeta-interferon and mortality in multiple sclerosis: a population-based international study,ā€ was presented Friday at the ongoingĀ ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting…

#MSParis2017 – Multiple Sclerosis Can Stay Mild for Decades, 30-year British Study Shows

After the first round of symptoms,Ā multiple sclerosis can stay mild without causing major problems for decades, a 30-year British study indicates. Karen K.Ā Chung of theĀ University College London Institute of NeurologyĀ discussed the findings atĀ the ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meetingĀ in Paris, which started Oct. 25 and runs until 28. His presentation was titled ā€œDoes…

#MSParis2017 – Ocrevus Improves Relapsing MS Patients’ Vision Better Than Interferon, Trials Show

Genentech’sĀ Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) improved the vision of people with relapsing multiple sclerosis better than the widely used therapyĀ interferon beta-1a, according to clinical trial findings presented at the 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting in Paris. Dr. Laura Balcer of the department of neurology atĀ New York UniversityĀ made the presentation, titledĀ ā€œEffect…