February 9, 2018 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD #ACTRIMS2018 ā Third Course of Lemtrada Improves Relapse, Disability in MS Patients, CARE-MS II Trial Shows Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who experience a relapse after two courses ofĀ Lemtrada (alemtuzumab)Ā treatment showed improvements inĀ relapse rate and disability after aĀ third Lemtrada course, according to results of the CARE-MS II trial extension. The poster reporting the findings, titled āEfficacy of Alemtuzumab Retreatment in Patients Who Experienced Disease Activity after…
February 2, 2018 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #ACTRIMS2018 – Relapsing MS Patients With Impaired Vision Improved on Ocrevus, Updated Trial Data Show Ocrevus improved vision among relapsing multiple sclerosis patients who participated in the Phase 3 clinical trials of the treatment, according to updated analyses recently presented at the ACTRIMSĀ Forum 2018. While Ocrevus-treated patients improved their ability to read low-contrast letters over the course of the two trials, people who received Rebif (interferon beta-1a) did not. Laura J. Balcer, a neurologist at New York University Langone Medical Center, shared the data in a presentation titled, āEffect of Ocrelizumab on Visual Outcomes in Patients with Baseline Visual Impairment in the OPERA Studies in Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis.ā Balcer had earlier shared data on the visual outcomes of relapsing patients in the OPERA I and OPERA II Phase 3 clinical trials of Ocrevus at the 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting in Paris, last year. The two studies āĀ sponsored by Ocrevus developer Genentech, a member of the Roche group ā Ā compared Ocrevus and Rebif in patients with relapsing MS. This time, her presentation focused only on patients who had visual impairment when they enrolled in the trials. Among a total of 1,656 participants, 375 of those treated with Ocrevus and 373 in the Rebif group had visual impairment. Researchers tested vision using a low-contrast letter acuity test. The test is similar to an ordinary vision test, with letters of different sizes on a chart. But the low-contrast test uses gray lettersĀ ā instead of black ā on a white background. Researchers included charts with two shades of gray to test different contrast levels. These tests can detect reduced visual function. At the beginning of the trials, both groups performed in a similar manner āĀ correctly identifying about 35 letters on a chart with somewhat higher contrast. After 96 weeks, those receiving Ocrevus identified on average 3.4 more letters, while Rebif-treated patients worsened by 0.5 letters ā a significant difference, Balcer said. Researchers tested vision every 12 weeks. At the end of the trials, they found that 39 percent more patients in the Ocrevus groups had a cumulative improvement of at least 10 letters, compared to those treated with Rebif. At this time, 26.4 percent of Ocrevus-treated patients improved 10 letters or more, compared to 19.8 percent in the Rebif group. The difference between the groups for at least seven letters was 54 percent, with Ocrevus-treated patients performing better. Researchers believe that a seven-letter change is the minimal clinically important difference for the test. Based on the results, researchers believe that the findings demonstrate Ocrevusā ability to reverse visual impairment in relapsing MS. The ACTRIMS Forum 2018 isĀ being held in San Diego, California, Feb. 1ā3.
January 31, 2018 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD RRMS Patients Say Both Rebif Rebidose and Rebiject Are Easy to Use When choosing between the single use autoinjector Rebif Rebidose or the reusable autoinjector Rebiject II, patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) found both easy to very easy to use, according to the results of a study. A higher number of the patients reported a preference for the single-use autoinjector…
January 10, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Extavia Is the Only Therapy for MS with Relapses That Britain Should Cover, Board Says A British board that recommends what treatments the National Health ServiceĀ should cover has advised the system to use onlyĀ Extavia (interferon beta 1b) as a treatment for MS patients who continue to have relapses. Cost was at the heart of the National Institute for Health and Care…
December 4, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Blood Test That Helps Predict MS Disease Activity Might Lower Need for MRI Scans, Study Suggests A blood test may someday replace some of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans taken by people with multiple sclerosis (MS) Ā ā offering an easy, cheap alternative for monitoring disease activity. A study by Norway’s University of BergenĀ found that blood levels of a factor called neurofilament light chain, released…
October 20, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #MSParis2017 – Mavenclad Reduces Relapses, Prevents New Lesions in Many RRMS Patients, Presentations Will Show Mavenclad reduced multiple sclerosis relapses by 79 percent and prevented the development of additional inflammatory lesions in 84 percent of patients with high disease activity, according to presentations Merck KGaAĀ will make in Paris next week. The company willĀ share a host of new data at theĀ 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS…
September 14, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Ocrevus Less Expensive, More Efficient than Interferon, Analysis Reveals Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) is a less expensive treatment option for relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) than subcutaneous interferon beta-1a (Rebif) in the long-run, according to a cost-effectiveness analysis published in the Journal of Medical Economics. In addition to lower total costs over a 20-year period, the analysis suggested that Ocrevus…
May 31, 2017 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD #CMSC17 – Lemtrada’s 2 Year Therapy in RRMS Sustains Efficacy for Over 6 Years Without Additional Treatment Taking Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) for two years inhibitedĀ magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) disease activity in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) for more than six years, theĀ CARE-MS I clinical trial extension study found. Researchers presented their study,Ā āDurable Efficacy of Alemtuzumab on MRI Disease Activity Over 6 Years in Treatment-Naive RRMS Patients With…
May 30, 2017 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD #CMSC17 – Ocrevus Lowers MS Relapse Rates Even Further in Extension Study Multiple sclerosis patients who benefited fromĀ Ocrevus (ocrelizumab)Ā in two Phase 3 clinical trials continued to benefit when they extended their treatment, researchers reported. In fact, their annual relapse rates have fallen even further during the extension study than during the trials. The study, āPreliminary Results of the OPERA I and…
March 23, 2017 News by Stacy Grieve, PhD Early Rebif Treatment Prolongs Progression to Clinically Definite MS, Study Reports An extension of a Phase 3 clinical trial has shown that early treatment with Rebif (interferon beta-1a) in patients with initial manifestations of multiple sclerosis (MS) can prolong the time to a clinically definite multiple sclerosis (CDMS) diagnosis over fiveĀ years. The study, āSubcutaneous interferon Ī²-1a in…
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…
December 2, 2016 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Lemtrada Lessens MS Disability in People Who Respond Poorly to Other Therapies, Study Says Data from the CARE-MS II clinical trialĀ showed that Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) canĀ lessen pre-existing disabilities in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who failed to respond adequately to previous disease-modifying therapies, according to a study of the trial’s data. The treatment was evaluated againstĀ Rebif (interferon beta-1a)Ā therapy. The study, āAlemtuzumab…
October 17, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Lemtrada Seen to Help Reverse MS Disability in People in Earlier Stages of Disease Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) was seen to help reverse disability among patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in relatively early stages of the disease, researchers report. The study, āAlemtuzumab improves preexisting disability in active relapsing-remitting MS patients,ā published in the journal Neurology, supports the idea that treatment…
September 19, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #ECTRIMS2016 – Treatment of Progressive MS May Have Delayed Result There might be years-long lags in response to disease-modifying drugs in patients with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study that analyzed data from two large clinical trials of progressive MS patients. The study fuels the idea that clinical trials of disease-modifying drugs for progressive MS need…
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 6, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD ICER Draft Report Evaluating Therapies for RRMS Now Open for Public Comment TheĀ Institute of Clinical and Economic Review (ICER)Ā released the early draft of a paper intended toĀ informĀ a future report evaluating the effectiveness and value of disease-modifying therapies for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The paper, called aĀ draft scopingĀ document, is titled “Disease Modifying Therapies for Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: Effectiveness and…
June 15, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Merck Joins with HAPPYneuron to Add Cognitive Training Games to MSdialog Merck Biopharma Ā announced it has entered intoĀ aĀ partnership with a French subsidiary calledĀ HAPPYneuron,Ā and now hasĀ an exclusive license to that companyās cognitiveĀ remediation training program for multiple sclerosis (MS).Ā The program, a series of brain training games and exercises, will be made available to people needing itĀ throughĀ Merck’s MSdialog platform. An e-Health…
June 6, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #CMSC16 – MS Patients of African Descent May Fare Better on Alemtuzumab (Lemtrada) A study, recently presented at the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) 2016 Annual Meeting in National Harbor, Md., showed MS patients of African decent might better benefit from treatment with alemtuzumab (Lemtrada) compared to subcutaneous interferon beta-1a (Rebif) – with lower rates of relapses evident over five years…
June 3, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD #CMSC16 – Medical Affairs VP at EMD Serono Discusses MS Drug Rebif, MS LifeLines Support in Exclusive Interview EMD Serono,Ā the U.S. and Canadian subsidiary and biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA,Ā focuses exclusively on specialty care. With expertise inĀ fertility, endocrinology, oncology and neurology, the company is featuring several innovative products with therapeutic potential in the oncology, immuno-oncology, and immunology fields. Rebif (interferon beta-1a), EMD Serono’s therapyĀ for patients withĀ relapsing…
January 22, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD EMD Serono Gains Exclusive US Rights to MS Drug for Relapsing Forms of Disease EMD Serono, theĀ North American biopharmaceutical business arm of Merck, announced it has gained exclusive rights over RebifĀ (interferon beta-1a) inĀ the United States. RebifĀ Ā is a treatment for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Rebif, an approved drug, is usedĀ to decrease the frequency of MS relapses and delay the occurrence of…
October 15, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD EMD Serono Announces Publication of PRISMS-15 Years Follow-up Study Results on Rebif for RelapsingāRemitting Multiple Sclerosis EMD Serono, the U.S. biopharmaceutical division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, recently announced that the results of the 15 year follow-up trial PRISMS-15 (Prevention of Relapses and Disability by Interferon beta-1a Subcutaneously in Multiple Sclerosis) evaluating RebifĀ® (interferon beta-1a), a high-dose, high-frequency interferon beta for the treatment of…
September 28, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD EMD Serono To Present New Data on Rebif, a Therapy for RRMS, at Upcoming ECTRIMS Congress EMD Serono, the subsidiary of Merck KGaA in the United States, recently announced that it will present new data on RebifĀ®, an interferon beta-1a therapy for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), at the upcoming 31st Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), to be…
July 1, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Rocheās Ocrelizumab Found to be Superior to Standard Interferon Therapy in Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis Patients Roche recently announced encouraging results on its investigational medicine ocrelizumab as a therapy for patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis, which includesĀ either RRMS or SPMS with relapses. Ocrelizumab was evaluated in two pivotal studies (OPERA I and OPERA II), where it was compared to interferon (IFN) beta-1a (RebifĀ®), the standard-of-care…