#MSVirtual2020

When safety measures like isolation are in place, neither disease-modifying therapy (DMT) use nor greater physical disability appear to heighten the risk of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) contracting COVID-19, a large U.K. registry-based study found. Preliminary study data also suggested that these factors do not affect…

The use of certain disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) such as rituximab and Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), which lower the number of a patient’s immune B-cells, may increase the odds of developing a more severe COVID-19 disease course for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a study suggests. The study, which includes data from the…

National MS Society Launches Survey to Assess Economic Impact of MS We know that managing MS is expensive. It can cost us money out of our pockets and also limit our ability to earn that money. A small survey about this was the subject of my “MS Wire”…

Fatigue is the most impactful symptom on daily functioning in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and is more severe in patients with relapse, pain, depression, and sleep disorders, according to a U.S.-based survey. The results were based mostly on a new MS-specific tool called the Fatigue Symptoms…

Tysabri (natalizumab) is superior to other disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) at improving balance and vision, easing bladder problems and sexual dysfunction, and alleviating anxiety in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to data from an Australian study. The study’s findings were presented at…

AB Science’s lead candidate masitinib safely and effectively delays disability progression in people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) and non-active secondary progressive MS (SPMS), according to top-line data from a clinical trial. The therapy was found to significantly lower the risk of first and confirmed (three-month) disability progression, and to reduce…

Early use of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) significantly slows shrinkage of the thalamus — a brain region involved in sensory and motor functions — in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS), according to new analyses from three Phase 3 trials that compared immediate use with a two-year…

Long-term treatment with Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) continues to be safe and effective at reducing the frequency of relapses and disability progression in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to 13-year data from a Phase 3 extension study. The study findings were presented at MSVirtual2020 by Ralf…

Continuous treatment with Aubagio (teriflunomide) can safely lower the risk of relapses and disability progression in children with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to interim data from the open-label extension of a Phase 3 trial. These findings were detailed at MSVirtual2020 by Tanuja Chitnis, MD,…

Cognitive problems can persist into adulthood in people whose multiple sclerosis (MS) began in childhood or adolescence, and are linked to neurological issues and delays in treatment initiation, a study reports. Early use of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) and of approaches designed to preserve cognition should be encouraged for pediatric…

Most children and adolescents with pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS), especially those treated intravenously with a disease-modifying therapy (DMT), achieve no evidence of disease activity within two years of diagnosis, according to a real-life study from the U.S. Patients whose DMTs are infused into a vein (intravenous treatment) are more likely…

Compared to low-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), high-efficacy medications are more effective at slowing the loss of nerve cells making up different layers of the retina — the region at the back of the eye that enables one to see — in patients with relapsing-remitting…

Remyelination — or the restoration of lost myelin, the protective sheath surrounding nerve cell fibers — in multiple sclerosis (MS) depends mainly on pre-existing oligodendrocytes (myelin-producing cells), rather than on newly-generated oligodendrocytes, according to a recent study. The data also showed that perineuronal, or satellite,…

Before signs of neurodegeneration in the brain and spinal cord are evident in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) — which resembles human multiple sclerosis (MS) — signs can first be found in the network of nerves innervating the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, a study reports. Additional research is needed…

Women with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) using moderate- or high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) before conceiving are more likely to have a relapse during pregnancy than are those taking low-efficacy DMTs or no medicines at all, a registry-based study found. This greater relapse risk during pregnancy could be reduced with…

Longer exposure to disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) may delay disability progression and the time until people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) require the aid of a wheelchair, an Italian registry-based study found. The study also suggests that starting treatment with DMTs — medications that reduce the activity of…

COVID-19 Pandemic Had Minimal Emotional Impact in Progressive MS Patients, Survey Finds I beg to differ. I have secondary progressive MS, and COVID-19 has bummed me out. I haven’t been in an exercise room since May. My wife and I haven’t had a meal in a restaurant since late…

In people with multiple sclerosis (MS) under age 50, the presence of cardiovascular risk factors is associated with a greater loss of brain volume, including white and grey matter, a study showed. The brain’s white matter mainly consists of nerve fibers and is typically affected by MS, while…

Early use of high efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) is more effective than the traditional approach — that of an escalating treatment regimen — at delaying disability progression in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a real-life study from Italy reports. People later moving to more aggressive treatment also appeared…

Low doses of rituximab, an anti-inflammatory medication used off-label to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), are safer and as effective as higher doses at reducing the frequency of relapses and the number of MS lesions, a clinical study shows. The study findings were presented at MSVirtual2020 by Luciana…

Tolebrutinib (SAR442168), an investigational oral BTK inhibitor to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), was seen to prevent the loss of myelin when given to a mouse model of demyelination in a preclinical study. The investigative therapy achieves this by preventing…

Temelimab, GeNeuro’s investigative treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), showed a favorable safety profile when given alongside rituximab, according to preclinical safety experiments performed in preparation for the company’s new Phase 2 trial involving patients with relapsing MS. Data from the preclinical experiments, along with details of…

Roche has launched a Phase 3 clinical trial program to evaluate fenebrutinib, its investigational oral BTK inhibitor, in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS). Data on fenebrutinib’s potency and selectivity, as well as the design of the clinical…

Novartis will present the latest clinical data on three of its approved multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies — Kesimpta (ofatumumab), Mayzent (siponimod), and Gilenya (fingolimod) — at the  MSVirtual2020 meeting that opens today. The 8th joint meeting of the Americas Committee for Treatment and…

Janssen Pharmaceuticals’ investigational oral therapy ponesimod is superior to Sanofi’s Aubagio (teriflunomide) in delaying disability progression in adults with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to exploratory analyses of OPTIMUM clinical trial data. These and other findings from Janssen’s MS research program, including on the health…

EMD Serono will present new data from programs assessing the efficacy and safety of Mavenclad (cladribine) and Rebif (interferon beta-1a), as well as investigative evobrutinib in treating relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) at the MSVirtual2020 meeting. Findings are part of 54 abstracts being presented by EMD Serono,…

Switching to Genentech’s Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) following suboptimal treatment responses significantly lessens symptoms and leads to high rates of no evidence of disease activity in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to data from a Phase 3b clinical trial. That finding, as well as data about patients’ adherence and…

ATA188, Atara Biotherapeutics’ investigative T-cell immunotherapy, is safe, well tolerated, and able to ease disability and improve exercise capacity in patients with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to one-year data from a Phase 1 trial and its long-term extension study. Findings also showed that, after…

The upcoming MSVirtual2020 meeting, the largest international conference dedicated to multiple sclerosis (MS) research, will focus on advances and breakthroughs made in MS causes and risk factors, diagnostic tools, treatment response biomarkers, technology, and therapies and interventions. The 8th joint meeting of the Americas Committee for Treatment and…

Zeposia (ozanimod) oral capsules continue to safely and effectively prevent relapses and disability progression in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to three-year data from a Phase 3 extension clinical trial. “Gaining insight into long-term therapeutic outcomes can enable clinicians to identify the most appropriate…