February 23, 2021 News by Diana Campelo Delgado Johns Hopkins Neuroscientist Wins 2020 Barancik Prize for Innovation The 2020 Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research has been awarded to neuroscientistĀ Dwight E. Bergles, PhD, a Johns Hopkins University professor,Ā for his work in understanding the function of brain cells in multiple sclerosis (MS). This international prize awards $100,000 to the recipient. Administered by the National MS…
November 2, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Biotin, Opicinumab, Myelin, Tele-exercise MD1003 Fails to Prevent Disability Progression in Progressive MS Patients, Trial Shows This is discouraging news for people taking high-dose biotin, many who have been buying it over the counter. Not only do these researchers report that taking 100 mg of biotin (MD1003) three times a day failed to…
October 26, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Biogen Discontinues Development of Opicinumab for MS BiogenĀ is discontinuing the clinical development of opicinumab,Ā its experimental treatment candidate forĀ multiple sclerosisĀ (MS), based on data from the Phase 2 AFFINITY clinical trial. The announcement, amid a third-quarter report, indicated that the study failed to meet both its main and secondary goals, without further details. The trial,…
October 12, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Comparing DMTs, Myelin Repair, Hypertension Gilenya and Tecfidera Similarly Effective at Treating RRMS, Real-world Study Says Gilenya and Tecfidera are both oral disease-modifying therapies. Both meds attempt to limit the inflammatory action of the immune system. Both now have generic versions. And as this story reports, neither appears to have a leg up over…
May 13, 2020 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD Ian Duncan Awarded 2020 Dystel Prize for Discoveries in Myelin Repair Neuroscientist Ian D. DuncanĀ has been awarded the 2020 John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research for work that advanced understanding of how myelin, the protective sheath surrounding nerve cells, can be repaired in diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS). āProfessor Duncan has made a series of critical research advances…
April 8, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Mayzent Approval Surprises, Myelin Repair, Monitoring Nerve Inflammation Cleveland Clinic Neurologist Applauds Mayzentās FDA Approval, But Surprised by Those It May Not Treat When I wrote my “MS Wire” column a few days after Mayzent’s approval, I wondered why the FDA had OK’d the medication for active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), but not…
June 4, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Remyelination, Predicting SPMS, Switching DMTs, MS and a Virus Chemical that Stimulates Estrogen Receptors Seen to Promote Myelin Repair Through āGoodā Inflammation in Mouse MS Model Caution: This is only a mouse study. However, anything that might repair the damaged myelin of people with MS catches my eye. In this case, researchers are building on earlier…
February 26, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Mediterranean Diet, Medical Marijuana, Ocrevus, Myelin Repair Pilot Study Is Testing Whether Mediterranean Diet Can Help MS Patients There’s been a good deal of news recently about the possibility that bacteria in our stomachs have an impact on our MS. There’s also been talk, for a long time, about whether certain diets can improve…
November 6, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Older Patients, Stem Cells, Myelin, B-cells vs. T-cells #MSParis2017 ā Trial to See if Disease-modifying Therapies Not Necessary in Older MS Patients This tops my list this week because, at age 69, I certainly fit the definition of an “older” MS patient. The study is hoping to enroll 300 MS patients in the U.S. who…
May 31, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MedDay Presents Phase 3 Extension Data on Potential Drug to Treat Progressive MS Data from an extension phase of aĀ Phase 3 clinical trial, given in an oral presentation by MedDay, reportedĀ that the biotinĀ Ā MD1003 showedĀ effectiveness over time as a possibleĀ treatment of non-active, progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). The dataĀ were presented atĀ the recentĀ 2nd Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) in DenmarkĀ byĀ ProfessorĀ Ayman Tourbah,…
February 5, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Society Raised $25M to Fund New Research Through NOW Campaign The National Multiple Sclerosis SocietyĀ announced that its five-year campaign to raise $250 million hasĀ concluded with its goal fully achieved, allowing the society to launch more research intoĀ multiple sclerosisĀ (MS) and effect more life-changing progress than at any other time in its nearly 70-year history. A total 818 research projects…
December 10, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD In Multiple Sclerosis Study, Vitamin D Shown to Aid Myelin Repair A new study in the Journal of Cell BiologyĀ suggestsĀ that vitamin D activates a receptor involved in myelin regeneration in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The study, entitled āVitamin D receptorāretinoid X receptor heterodimer signaling regulates oligodendrocyte progenitor cell differentiation,ā and was led by researchers…
December 2, 2015 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc MS Researchers Gather in Texas to Share Findings, Advance Ideas The Fifth Tykeson Fellows ConferenceĀ broughtĀ senior multiple sclerosis (MS) scientists together with nearly 100Ā young research and clinical fellows from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, MS Society of Canada, and MS International Federation to promote collaboration, networking, and the sharing of research data with the goal of improving patientsā lives and developing…