Lapix Therapeutics has met with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to determine how to advance its investigational treatment candidate LPX-TI641 into clinical trials for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The pre-investigational new drug (pre-IND) meeting is usually the first formal one companies seeking to…
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The signaling protein fractalkine was found to promote the repair of myelin — the protecting coating around nerve fibers — that is damaged by the mistaken immune attack that leads to multiple sclerosis (MS), a mouse study demonstrated. In an animal model of the disease, the molecule…
Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) seems to be equally effective at stabilizing disease activity in Black and white patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a U.S. study found. Disability levels and MRI disease markers remained generally unchanged over the two-year study in both groups, despite Black patients having more severe disability…
In evaluating potential treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) over the past two decades, England’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) made differing assumptions about whether and how the therapies’ effects will diminish over time. Such assumptions have a significant impact in estimating a therapy’s cost-effectiveness — a…
Roche has teamed up with researchers in Australia to study the immune and biological mechanisms leading to better outcomes for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who are or have been pregnant. The four-year project, led by Vilija Jokubaitis, PhD, a neuroscientist and group leader at Monash University, is expected…
The tiny sacs of cellular content that are released by oligodendrocytes — the myelin-producing cells of the brain and spinal cord — may be good biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, a new study has found. The research showed that levels of myelin basic…
As you read this, a group of scientists is doing multiple sclerosis (MS) research high above the earth. Their laboratory is in orbit about 250 miles up, aboard the International Space Station. Working with researchers at the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), astronauts have been helping…
Researchers have identified specific areas of brain damage associated with depression in multiple sclerosis (MS), but not with other symptoms of the disease. The findings could pave the way toward new treatments for MS-related depression that work to stimulate these regions. “The more we know about the connectivity of…
Celiac disease, in which the ingestion of gluten causes the immune system to attack the lining of the small intestine, is not common in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a meta-analysis found. While the diet-caused autoimmune disease is estimated to affect between 0.2% and 0.7% of people in the…
FSD Pharma has submitted an application to Health Canada asking to start a Phase 1 clinical trial of Lucid-MS, the company’s experimental and myelin-protective oral therapy for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The trial will not involve patients and is designed to investigate the safety and tolerability of…
People with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who are receiving oral disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are still more likely to experience a relapse or any form of disease activity if they are smokers, a study found. Researchers also observed that former smokers had a disease…
Within the first 12 years after the onset of symptoms, about one-fourth of people with clinically isolated syndrome — or a first episode of multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms — showed a worsening of disability independent of relapses, a study reports. This type of disease progression, called progression independent…
Welcome to “MS News Notes,” where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: Could COVID-19 trigger MS? Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been scattered reports of people who’ve developed neurological disorders,…
Using a new approach, researchers have identified new signaling molecules that regulate the activation of certain subsets of astrocytes thought to drive inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS). The new methodology, called FIND-seq, enables the selection of single cells from a sample based on the expression of specific genes and…
Pheno Therapeutics has entered into an agreement with UCB to develop new therapies aimed at remyelination to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurological disorders that are characterized by the loss of myelin, the companies announced. “This license allows us to accelerate a promising drug target towards…
A new therapy that delivers an anti-inflammatory compound to nervous system immune cells via cellular “shipping containers” called exosomes showed promise in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS), a study reports. The study, “Resveratrol-loaded macrophage exosomes alleviate multiple sclerosis through targeting microglia,” was published in the…
Aerobic training for up to three months significantly outperformed less-strenuous exercise at improving walking capacity among people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study reports. However, the benefits of aerobic exercise seem to be greater among patients without MS-related damage in the insula — a brain region involved in…
Quanterix Corporation‘s laboratory test designed to measure blood levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL) has been validated by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), an arm of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that regulates laboratory testing. The company now is planning to launch its laboratory developed test,…
A protein in the virus that causes COVID-19 is structurally similar to several proteins targeted by the immune system in multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study shows. The results provide a potential mechanism for how COVID-19 could trigger MS-like disease in susceptible individuals, researchers said. The study, “…
A behavioral intervention that teaches people with multiple sclerosis (MS) strategies for becoming physically active significantly improved patient-reported measures of fatigue over a year, but had no effect on other self-reported disease measures, according to new data from a Phase 3 trial. Earlier results had shown that the approach,…
The amounts of more than 60 species of bacteria are altered in the gut in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) compared with those without the disease, a new study reports. Researchers also identified differences in the makeup of viruses that infect gut bacteria in patients, which they said may…
Multiple tiny injections of myelin-related small proteins alongside suppressors of the activity of dendritic cells, done using a device akin to a tattoo gun, powerfully reduced the severity of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a mouse model of the disease. That’s according to new findings announced by Therapeutic Solutions…
TeraImmune is extending its collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to continue developing regulatory T-cell-based therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases. The extension will let the company continue optimize the manufacturing process for its lead regulatory T-cell (Treg) product in…
Women with chronic health conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS) often experience disbelief and disenfranchisement from healthcare providers when they seek care, a new study highlights. The study, “Women’s Experiences of Health-Related Communicative Disenfranchisement,” was published in Health Communication. There is a long history of discrimination and…
The risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) doesn’t seem to be influenced by consuming alcohol, according to a large-scale analysis in the U.K. After adjusting for known MS risk factors, including smoking, childhood obesity, socioeconomic status, or genetics, the findings remained the same. The analysis was published in Nature…
Multiple Sclerosis News Today brought consistent coverage of the latest scientific research, developments in treatment, and clinical trials for multiple sclerosis (MS) throughout 2022. This is a list of the top 10 most-read articles we published this past year, with a brief description of each. We look forward…
About half of all individuals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) have at least one other co-occurring medical disorder, and such comorbidities add a significant economic burden for MS patients in managing their condition, according to an Italian study. These added costs result from an increase in the use of…
A stem cell transplant more effectively slowed disability worsening in people with active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) than anti-inflammatory treatments and disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), a study has found. More transplant recipients also experienced clinical improvements that were sustained after three and five years. After 10 years,…
Severing the lower part of the vagus nerve — one of the main neurological pathways that connects the brain to the gut — led to less myelin loss in a mouse model that’s commonly used to study multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings suggest that the vagus nerve plays…
About one in five people with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be unfit to drive a vehicle due to disease-related difficulties, according to a review of published studies. Cognitive and visual difficulties were most frequently associated with impaired driving ability, both on the road and in a simulation. However, the…