February 28, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD ‘Ocrevus Has the Potential to Change How MS Is Treated,’ Genentech’s Peter Chin Says in Interview March 28, at the latest, may be a historic date for the multiple sclerosis (MS) community ā patients, families, caregivers, researchers, and physicians alike. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will have its say about the marketing approval forĀ Ocrevus (ocrelizumab). The drugĀ willĀ be the first to offerĀ benefit to…
February 28, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Full Transcript of Interview with Genentech’s Medical Director, Peter Chin, on Ocrevus BelowĀ is a transcript of theĀ Multiple Sclerosis News TodayĀ interview with Dr. Peter Chin ā principal medical director at Genentech ā about the importance of the pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a Biologics Licensing Application (BLA) for Ocrevus (ocrelizumab). An an indepth article on this interview,Ā lookingĀ Ocrevus…
February 27, 2017 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski #ACTRIMS2017 – Keynote Lecture Focused on Two Disease-Modifying Therapies Editor’s note: Columnist Laura Kolaczkowski writes from theĀ Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) 2017 ForumĀ in Orlando, Fla., (Feb. 23-25). Two MS disease-modifying therapies, Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and Rituxan (rituximab) were featured in this year’s Kenneth P. Johnson, MD, Memorial Lecture…
February 27, 2017 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD #ACTRIMS2017 – Ocrevus Significantly Decreases Disease Activity in MS Patients, Study Shows Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), an investigational monoclonal antibody, significantly decreases disease activity in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and is associated with a higher proportion of patients reaching no evidence of disease activity (NEDA), according to a new analysis. The study,Ā āNEDA analysis by epoch in patients with relapsing multiple…
February 24, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #ACTRIMS2017 – 3 Trials Show MS Patients Receiving Ocrevus Had No Elevated Infection Risk A detailed analysis ofĀ relapsing and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the three Phase 3 trials of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) showed that the treatment did not significantly increase their risk of infections ā serious or otherwise. Certain infections, including common colds and influenza, were numerically more common among Ocrevus-treated patients,…
February 23, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #ACTRIMS2017 – No Evidence of Progression More Likely Among PPMS Patients on Ocrevus Genentechās Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) increased the proportion of patients with no evidence of progression (NEP) in the recently concluded ORATORIO Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). The evaluation of NEPĀ ā a combined measure of three disability assessments ā was a secondary exploratory endpoint of…
January 3, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Ocrevus Seen in Phase 3 Trials to Benefit Both Primary Progressive and Relapsing MS Patients Recently published data from three Phase 3 trials of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) show that the investigational drug does what no other therapy has achieved so far ā working to prevent disease in both relapsing and primary progressive (PP) forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Publications in the New England Journal…
December 21, 2016 News by Joana Fernandes, PhD FDA Extends Review of Ocrevus as Potential Treatment for Both Forms of MS Until March The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently extended until the end of March its review of the Biologics License Application (BLA) forĀ Ocrevus (ocrelizumab). The application was submitted by Roche, requesting FDA approval forĀ Ocrevus as a treatment for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and ā for a first…
December 21, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD New Phase 3 Trial of Ocrevus to Treat RRMS Begins Enrolling Patients in US Genentech is recruiting U.S. participants for a Phase 3 study (NCT02637856) of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who were notĀ helped by previous disease-modifying therapies, according to a press release from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The trial is an open-label study, meaning…
November 11, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Letter to a Scared Young Woman Dear Lauren Parrott, I know you’re scared. The fears that you shared in your video blog ring true to any of us who have faced the unknowns of a new multiple sclerosis medicine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS9-nSfvgSI I’ve been there. I’ve gone through three major multiple sclerosis drugs over the…
October 21, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Drugs – Who’s Using What? Most of us who live with multiple sclerosis also live with a disease modifying therapy (DMT) ā a drug that, we hope, will positively modify the course of our disease. One of the earliest of these was Avonex, a weekly injection into the muscle. I was one of those…
October 13, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Neurologists Anticipate FDA Approval of Ocrevus as 1st Progressive MS Treatment, Survey Finds Neurologists in the U.S. expect ā or, at least, highly anticipate ā that Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), being developed by Roche as a treatment for both relapsing and progressiveĀ multiple sclerosis (MS), will be approved by year’s end, and a sizableĀ numberĀ plan on quickly prescribing it, according to a recent update byĀ Ā Spherix…
September 23, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #ECTRIMS2016 – Primary Progressive MS Patients May Soon Have Ocrevus as Treatment Results from the ORATORIO trial, exploring Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) for the treatment of primary progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), showed that the drug stopped disease progression for more than two years in more patients than a placebo. The findings, a highlight at the European Committee for Treatment and Research…
September 15, 2016 News by Joana Fernandes, PhD #ECTRIMS2016 – New Data Show Ocrevus Effective in Treating Primary and Relapsing MS Positive new dataĀ from Phase 3 clinical trials assessingĀ Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as a treatment for both relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) were recently announced by Roche, the company responsible for marketing and developing this investigationalĀ therapy. The results are being presented at the 32nd Congress of the…
August 1, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD Genentech Enrolling Relapsing MS Patients in Study of Mechanism of Action for Ocrevus In addition to a new study sponsored by GenentechĀ to test the experimentalĀ MS therapyĀ Ocrevus (ocrelizumab)Ā in RMS patients who have had a sub-optimal response to previous disease modifying therapies, the company is also currently recruiting patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis to understand the therapy’sĀ mechanism of action and B-cell biology…
July 21, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD Study of Potential Therapy for Relapsing MS That Targets B-Cells Now Recruiting Patients in US Patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā are being recruited forĀ aĀ clinical trial evaluatingĀ an experimental monoclonal antibody called ublituximab, the National MS Society announced in a recentĀ newsĀ release. The study, being conducted at seven U.S. sites, will enroll at least 24 patients, but this number can go up to 100. MSĀ is considered to be…
July 1, 2016 Columns by admin MS Patients Want Research to Focus on a Cure, Not Possible Causes As interesting as it can be for patients with MS who hear about work being done to find the causes of multiple sclerosis, what we really want to see is research that is carried out to find a cure. Nothing more, nothing less. Of course, the development of new treatments…
June 29, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD 1st Potential Therapy for Primary Progressive MS, Ocrelizumab, Under Priority Review by FDA The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is givingĀ priority review to a request to approveĀ Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as a treatment forĀ both forms of multiple sclerosis, the drug’s developer,Ā Genentech, announced. If the company’s Biologics License Application (BLA) is approved,Ā Ocrevus will become the first drug ableĀ to treat patients with either relapsing or…
June 6, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #CMSC16 – Ocrevus (Ocrelizumab) in PPMS Prevented Disability Progression, Lowered MRI Lesion Volume, Study Shows Data recently presented at the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) 2016 Annual Meeting showed that Roche/Genentechās investigational drugĀ ocrelizumab (Ocrevus) lowered the risk of disability progression in primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), a condition for which no approved treatments exist. The study was presented during the “…
June 6, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD #CMSC16 – Genentech’s Ocrelizumab (Ocrevus) a Promising Therapy for Primary Progressive MS; Interview with Lead Researcher Genentech,Ā a member of the RocheĀ Group, was founded more than 35 years ago and has been focused on a variety of research fields, includingĀ cancer, immunology, neurodegenerative disorders, metabolic diseases, and infectious diseases. Genentech has been committed to discovering and developing new medicines for patients with major diseases of the nervous…
April 14, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Genentech to Present New Data from Phase 3 Trials of Ocrevus in MS Patients at AAN Annual Meeting GenentechĀ announced that it will present new data from three Phase 3 clinical trials ofĀ its experimental multiple sclerosis (MS) therapyĀ Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) at the 68th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) being held in Vancouver, Canada, from April 15ā21, 2016. Additionally, results of a new endpoint for…
March 21, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD CONy16: Pros and Cons of MS Drugs Targeting Immune Cells Other Than B-cells Debated Clinical trials have shown that ocrelizumabĀ ā an antibody targeting B-cells ā is effective in multiple sclerosis (MS). As a result, some researchers and clinicians claim that B-cell depletion is a sufficient therapy in MS, and that drugs targeting other immune cells are obsolete. Not everyone agrees. A debate at…
February 18, 2016 News by BioNews Staff FDA Grants ‘Breakthrough Therapy’ Designation to Genentechās Ocrelizumab for PPMS Genentech recently announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted its investigational medicine ocrelizumab, a potential treatment forĀ primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS),Ā Breakthrough Therapy DesignationĀ based on positiveĀ Phase 3 clinical trial results showing thatĀ ocrelizumab significantly reduced disability progression and other disease activity markers compared toĀ placebo. The FDA designation is…
January 18, 2016 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc MS Research Brought New Insights into Disease Triggers and Potential Therapies in 2015 The Multiple Sclerosis Society of CanadaĀ recently published a report documenting and summarizing the most important developments in multiple sclerosis (MS) research during 2015. In early 2015, a Society-funded clinical trial was initiated toĀ study the potential abilities of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to treat MS. The MEsenchymal Stem cell therapy…
January 5, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Review Highlights Long List of Unmet Needs For MS Patients In a special feature publishedĀ in the journal American Health & Drug Benefits, authorsĀ Stanton R. Mehr, President of SM Health Communications, and Marj P. Zimmerman, President of RxDirections, discuss the many unmet medical needs multiple sclerosis (MS) patients still face in dealing with the…
December 28, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Top 10 Multiple Sclerosis Articles of 2015 Multiple Sclerosis News Today has reported the latest therapies, clinical trial developments, and events in multiple sclerosis (MS) on a daily basis throughout the past year. As 2015 comes to an end, hereĀ are the year’s 10 articlesĀ most widely readĀ byĀ Ā Multiple Sclerosis News TodayĀ readers, each with a brief summary of the developments…
December 1, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD National Multiple Sclerosis Society Awards Wisconsin Researcher With Grant To Fuel Promising Study The National Multiple Sclerosis SocietyĀ awarded a $700,000 research grant to Dr. Bonnie Dittel, a senior investigator at the BloodCenter of Wisconsin (BCW) and adjunct professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The grant will help Dr. Dittel advance her research into how specific immune cells in the body can…
November 11, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Roche to Pursue MS Ocrelizumab Drug Market Authorization RocheĀ recently provided an update on their late-stage pipeline products across several therapeutic areas, including ocrelizumab for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The data was disclosed on Nov. 5 at the Roche Pharma Day 2015 event in London, U.K. Ocrelizumab was previously revealed to be the first investigational medicine…
October 14, 2015 Social Clips by admin #Ocrelizumab – How Ocrelizumab Works Ocrelizumab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, targets mature B-cells. Almost 95% of the B-cell population has these antigenic epitopes after maturation and does not shed them, which is what makes it a potent marker for therapeutic purposes (cancer being a very common area of interest in this regard). Read more…
October 10, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD EXCLUSIVE: Genentech/Roche Interview with MS News Today on Promising MS Therapy Ocrelizumab #ECTRIMS 2015 Dr. Peter Chin, a renowned neurologist and Principal Medical Director of Global Neuroscience Development at Genentech, a leading biotechnology company and member of the Roche Group, participated in an exclusive interview with Multiple Sclerosis News Today correspondent Dr. Ana de Barros on the companyās promising multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy…