PPMS

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is giving priority review to a request to approve Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as a treatment for both forms of multiple sclerosis, the drug’s developer, Genentech, announced. If the company’s Biologics License Application (BLA) is approved, Ocrevus will become the first drug able to treat patients with either relapsing or…

Never having been offered, let alone received any disease modifying therapy, I can address the subject of disease modifying therapies, and their side effects, with complete impartiality. Of course, the reason for the lack of any medication is because none has yet been approved for use with MS patients who…

Arrien Pharmaceuticals has initiated Phase 1 clinical trials of their first agent, ARN-6039, a molecule that targets a specific subset of immune cells called T helper 17 (Th17), for the potential treatment of patients with relapsing, remitting, and progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). A growing body of evidence has suggested a…

People with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) are usually older and more disabled than those with relapsing-remitting MS, researchers at Washington University reported. The team is studying demographic and clinical characteristics of PPMS patients enrolled in the NARCOMS registry, to better understand their unmet needs and possibly improve research into potential treatments. The study, “…

MediciNova, Inc., announced that MN-166 (ibudilast) has been approved for “fast track” development by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a potential treatment for progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). Progressive MS includes both the primary progressive (PPMS) and secondary progressive (SPMS) forms of the disease. MediciNova’s MN-166 was licensed from Kyorin Pharmaceuticals for its potential…

Dr. Wayne Moore, from the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver General Hospital, will present an overview and analysis of the major histology and pathology aspects that characterize and differentiate relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and progressive forms of the disease, primary progressive MS (PPMS) and secondary progressive MS (SPMS).

Scientists from the Neuroimmunological Diseases Unit at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will present results of a study investigating several biomarkers that might lead to a more sensitive and accurate diagnostic test of central nervous system (CNS) inflammation, a key aspect of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). The data is being reported today, Feb.18, at the…

Genentech recently announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted its investigational medicine ocrelizumab, a potential treatment for primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), Breakthrough Therapy Designation based on positive Phase 3 clinical trial results showing that ocrelizumab significantly reduced disability progression and other disease activity markers compared to placebo. The FDA designation is…

Dr. Jerry S. Wolinsky of the University of Texas in Houston, will give the first Kenneth P. Johnson Memorial Lecture at the opening day of the Americas Committee for the Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2016 in New Orleans, focusing on distinctions between relapsing and progressive disease forms. ACTRIMS…

Roche 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…

In a recent study published in the journal PLOS One, a team of researchers explored the differences in cognitive performance and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) correlates of cognitive deficits in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) to underscore the importance…

Genentech, a leading biotechnology company and member of the Roche Group, recently announced promising results on a pivotal Phase III clinical trial (ORATORIO) assessing its investigational therapy ocrelizumab as a treatment for patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative disorder that results from…

On September 16, 2015, Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche announced that ocrelizumab, a drug originally designed to treat rheumatoid arthritis that saw its development stopped due to an association with infections, could potentially treat relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) as well as primary progressive MS (PPMS) with minimal sides effects compared…

MediciNova, Inc., a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company developing novel, small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with unmet medical needs, recently announced that the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) notified the company of full enrollment of their ongoing clinical study evaluating ibudilast (MN-166) for the treatment of progressive…

As the most common non-traumatic cause of disability in young people in the industrialized world, multiple sclerosis affects more than 2.5 million people globally. Those who suffer with the disease are categorized into two types of multiple sclerosis patients: those with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) make up the majority of patients…