I’d spent about five years trying to figure out what was wrong with me and then treat it when I got the phone call. During that time, I’d had three surgeries to repair old injuries and had been treated for chronic Q fever. I’d also been diagnosed with multiple…
Ocrevus
Increasing the dose of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) by two- or threefold, depending on a person’s weight, did not provide additional benefit in slowing disability progression compared with the standard regimen in people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). That’s according to top-line data from the Phase 3b GAVOTTE…
Children and adolescents living with multiple sclerosis (MS) seem to benefit at least as much — and for some outcomes, significantly more — from Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as from treatment with Gilenya (fingolimod), now the only MS therapy approved for pediatric patients in the U.S. That’s according to…
The CD20 inhibitor Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) rapidly depletes immune B-cells in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), as expected, but ongoing treatment also leads to changes in immune T-cells, a new study reports. After about six months of treatment, patients experience T-cell changes such as an increase in regulatory…
Three biosimilar drugs — approved versions of brand-name therapies that have no clinically meaningful differences compared with their reference products — including one for multiple sclerosis (MS), will soon be available in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region under a new partnership between two pharmaceutical companies.
Switching between CD20-targeting antibodies Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and Kesimpta (ofatumumab) doesn’t affect either’s effectiveness at lowering disease activity and slowing disability progression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a real-world study in Germany shows. Researchers did see a link between switching and a faster, continuous decrease of immunoglobulin…
Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) appears to be safe and effective for children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to real-world data from Kuwait. After about 15 months of treatment, more than 90% of patients with pediatric-onset MS (POMS) remained free of relapses, and most also showed no new…
In people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) treated with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), levels of B-cells can help to predict the risk of progression independent of relapse activity, a new study reports. “Our results unveil a discernible relationship between the degree of B-cell depletion and disease progression in…
Early treatment with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) may help protect the cerebellum, a region of the brain that plays a key role in motor coordination, cognitive function, and emotional regulation, from damage in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a study suggested. Data from the clinical studies that supported Ocrevus’ approval…
Rituximab, sometimes used off-label as a multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment, may be as effective — at a much lower cost to patients — as the approved therapy Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) at managing relapsing forms of the disease, a new study from Egypt suggests. The study’s results showed that the…
No added benefit was found in increasing the dose of Genentech’s Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) — to two to three times the currently approved 600 mg dose — in slowing disability progression in adults with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new data from a Phase 3 clinical study. The…
Fampridine, which is approved to improve walking in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), and the disease-modifying therapy Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) seem to have the greatest benefits on MS walking abilities, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis of treatment options. The data align with previous findings for fampridine, which…
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who receive anti-CD20 therapies such as Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) are significantly less likely to discontinue their treatment compared with patients who are given other disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), a Swiss study has found. Staying on treatment may be related to the effectiveness of B-cell-depleting…
Treatment with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) may have a beneficial effect on paramagnetic rim lesions — known as PRL, these are a type of chronic inflammatory lesion — in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a newly shared analysis. PRLs, a form of nerve damage seen in MS, have…
Using Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as a first-line treatment for early-stage relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) is significantly better at delaying disease progression than starting with a less effective drug and switching to Ocrevus later. That’s according to nine years of data from the OPERA I (NCT01247324) and…
Less frequent Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) infusions are as effective as standard dosing — when treatment is given typically every six months — for controlling multiple sclerosis (MS) disease activity, but may help limit the risk of side effects, a new study reports. “These findings suggest that [extended-interval dosing] could…
Anti-CD20 therapies like Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and rituximab appear to be ineffective at slowing disability progression in people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), a form of the disease characterized by symptoms that steadily worsen over time, according to data from a real-world study in France. The study,…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Ocrevus Zunovo (ocrelizumab and hyaluronidase-ocsq), a subcutaneous, or under-the-skin, formulation of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), for treating adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). The approval covers all the same indications as the original medication, including relapsing forms of MS — namely…
A subcutaneous, or under-the-skin, formulation of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) received approval from the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to treat adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). The approval means that people with relapsing forms of MS and those with primary progressive MS (PPMS) will now be…
The European Commission has approved a subcutaneous, or under-the-skin, formulation of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) to treat adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). The approval makes the new formulation available in the European Union for the same indications as the original intravenous (into-the-vein) formulation, which is available to people with relapsing…
Switching to one of the anti-CD20 targeting therapies Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) or rituximab may be an effective strategy for discontinuing Tysabri (natalizumab) treatment in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients at risk for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), according to a systematic review. The study, “Switching from natalizumab to an…
A committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is recommending the approval of a subcutaneous, or under-the-skin, formulation of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the European Union. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, known as CHMP, specifically recommended that this new formulation…
A subcutaneous (under-the-skin) formulation of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) helped most adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) remain free of clinical relapses and new or worsening brain lesions, according to one-year data from the Phase 3 OCARINA II study. Given twice a year as a 10-minute injection, this formulation of Ocrevus…
Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) continued to prevent disability progression among people with relapsing and progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) over 10 years, according to clinical trial analyses. The most pronounced benefits were observed in patients who started on the therapy in the controlled part of the trials, compared with…
Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) had similar benefits in Black and Hispanic multiple sclerosis (MS) patients as earlier clinical trials with white patients did, one-year data from the CHIMES clinical trial indicates. About half of the CHIMES participants achieved no evidence of disease activity, or NEDA, which is defined as the…
Where does the time go? Six months had passed since my last treatment, which meant it was time for another. After my August 2022 diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), I was given only one option for treatment: Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), which is a disease-modifying therapy that’s used…
Taking antibody-based medications for multiple sclerosis (MS) while breastfeeding does not appear to harm a child’s health or development during at least the first three years of life, according to a preliminary study of more than 180 babies. Children breastfed by mothers taking Tysabri (natalizumab), Ocrevus (ocrelizumab),…
People with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) being treated with an infusion CD20 inhibitor such as Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) can safely transition to the more recent Briumvi (ublituximab-xiiy), which is given in shorter infusion times. That’s according to data from the ENHANCE Phase 3b clinical trial…
As those of us with multiple sclerosis (MS) know, every so often a call comes or a letter arrives telling us we have a date with an extraordinary friend: the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. For me, it seems that time has arrived again. Just a few days…
Treatment with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) may stabilize disability progression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have severe walking impairments — a patient group excluded from clinical trials supporting the therapy’s 2017 approval — a real-world analysis suggests. However, about half of those receiving Ocrevus in this study discontinued…