rituximab

The Institute of Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) released the early draft of a paper intended to inform a future report evaluating the effectiveness and value of disease-modifying therapies for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The paper, called a draft scoping document, is titled “Disease Modifying Therapies for Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: Effectiveness and…

Mabthera (rituximab), a widely approved drug for treating lymphoma and/or rheumatoid arthritis, is highly effective in treating multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers reported in an observational study in Sweden, where Mabthera is increasingly being used outside of its approved indications to treat relapsing-remitting MS patients. The study, published in the journal…

Clinical trials have shown that ocrelizumab — an antibody targeting B-cells — 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…

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that a small clinical trial of a progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment was stopped early due to poor results. The trial was evaluating the drug rituximab for its efficacy in depleting harmful immune cells and decreasing nerve damage in these MS…

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore presented key findings today, Feb. 19, concerning the presence of contrast-enhancing lesions in later stages in the relapsing-remitting experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE) model. The presentation was made at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2016, which is ongoing through…

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada 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 to study the potential abilities of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to treat MS. The MEsenchymal Stem cell therapy…

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO), a rare autoimmune disorder often mistaken for multiple sclerosis, is similar in that it is characterized by myelin destruction in the optic nerves and spinal cord. In contrast to multiple sclerosis, as reported by the Transverse Myelitis Association, NMO does not initially affect…