June 30, 2023 News by Steve Bryson, PhD Aubagio shifts immune cell balance in RRMS, study reveals Aubagio (teriflunomide), an approved therapy for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), works by shifting the balance between activated subsets of nerve-damaging immune cells to those with immunosuppressive traits, a new study reveals. Further studies to understand how changes in immune cell subsets drive Aubagioās clinical effectiveness will…
August 29, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Ublituximab’s Benefits Over Aubagio Seen in ULTIMATE Clinical Trials Treatment with the experimental B-cell depleting therapy ublituximab significantly outperformed Aubagio (teriflunomide) at reducing relapse rates and the number of lesions in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to updated data from the Phase 3 ULTIMATE clinical trials. The two medications had comparable effects…
July 25, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Intermittent Fasting, Roe v. Wade, IRLs Intermittent Fasting in MS Leads to Immune Cell, Metabolic Changes Although the National MS Society will tell you there is no such thing as an “MS diet,” many people follow various diets that seem to help them. One that’s been around for several years is intermittent fasting. In…
July 21, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Abortion Bans Are Likely to Restrict Care for MS Patients: Researchers Note: This story was updated on July 25, 2022, for the headline to reflect researchers gave this information in a perspective paper, not a study.Ā Bans on abortion and other reproductive care limitations are likely to have a profound impact on the care of people with multiple sclerosis (MS)…
July 12, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Aubagio May Significantly Lower Relapse Risk in Children With MS Treatment with Aubagio (teriflunomide) may significantly reduce the risk of relapse in children with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new analysis of the TERIKIDS clinical trial that took into account data from adult trials. Results wereĀ in the paper “Reinterpreting Clinical Trials in Children With…
June 13, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Evusheld, Immunotherapy, Blood Test, Aubagio Evusheld Boosts Antibodies Against COVID-19 in Vaccinated Patients Research has shown that the COVID-19 vaccines have been effective for people being treated with disease-modifying therapies, except for those that target B-cells, such as Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), Kesimpta (ofatumumab), and Rituxan (rituximab). If this very small study of 18 people proves…
June 7, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS No Disease Activity for 58% of Those on Aubagio After 2 Years: Study More than half of the people with multiple sclerosis (MS) treated withĀ Aubagio (teriflunomide) showed no evidence of disease activity after two years on treatment, according to aĀ study in Italy. The study, “Evolution of teriflunomide use in multiple sclerosis: A real-world experience,” was published in theĀ Journal of…
March 10, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Parents’ Aubagio Exposure Not Linked to Greater Pregnancy Risks Maternal or paternal exposure prior to conception to the multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy Aubagio (teriflunomide) does not seem to increase the risk of adverse pregnancy events, including miscarriage, preterm birth, small newborn size, or malformations, according to the results of a recent Danish study. About…
March 7, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: ‘Cog Fog,’ Tolebrutinib, Ublituximab, Spinal Atrophy #ACTRIMS2022 ā Cognitive Training Paired With tDCS Aids Patients A treatment to clear “cog fog” would be welcomed by many people with MS. Over 75% of us are troubled by cognitive problems. In this study, adding painless transcranial direct current stimulation to standard cognitive training improved results when compared…
February 28, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ACTRIMS2022 ā Mavenclad Best at Reducing Relapses: Real-world Data People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who are treated with Mavenclad (cladribine) are less likely to experience a disease relapse than those who are treated with Gilenya (fingolimod), Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate), or Aubagio (teriflunomide), according to an analysis of real-world data. The findings were presented at the Americas Committee…
December 2, 2021 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD $100K Grant Awarded to Study How Patients Are Adhering to Oral DMTs A researcher at the University of Houston has received a $100,000 grant to investigate adherence to oral disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) among people with multiple sclerosis (MS), and correlations between adherence patterns and disease outcomes over time. The one-year grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was awarded…
October 13, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #ECTRIMS2021 ā Ponvory Effective in Early MS in OPTIMUM Trial Editorās note: TheĀ Multiple Sclerosis News Today team is providing in-depth coverage of the virtual 37th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), Oct. 13ā15. GoĀ hereĀ to see the latest stories from the conference.
September 23, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Tecfidera May Reduce Relapse Rate More Than Other RRMS Therapies First-line treatment with Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) leads to a lower rate of relapses in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) than does treatment with Aubagio (teriflunomide) or injectable immunomodulators, according to an analysis of insurance data from France. “These data will be useful to feed into physician…
July 13, 2021 News by Somi Igbene, PhD Patients Less Likely to Stop Taking Tecfidera Than Aubagio: Study Tecfidera has a lower risk of discontinuation due to treatment failure than Aubagio in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new observational study in Norway suggests. In the study, people receiving Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) were 38% less likely to experience treatment failure and stop use than those receiving…
June 21, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Oral Aubagio Approved in EU for Children With RRMS, Ages 10-17 The European Commission (EC) has approved Aubagio (teriflunomide) for the treatment of children and adolescents, ages 10 to 17, withĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Aubagio, approved for adults with RRMS since 2013, is now the first oral therapy available as a first-line treatment for pediatric patients in the European…
June 21, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Results: Ponvory Outperforms Aubagio in OPTIMUM Clinical Trial In the OPTIMUM clinical trial,Ā Ponvory (ponesimod) significantly outperformed Aubagio (teriflunomide) in reducing relapse rates, fatigue, and evidence of brain damage among people with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). Based on these results, Ponvory has now been approved in the U.S. and the European Union as a treatment…
June 15, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS FDA Rejects Expansion of Aubagio for Pediatric MS The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rejected an application requesting the expansion of Aubagio (teriflunomide) for the treatment of children and adolescents, ages 10 to 17, with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). “The FDA deemed the data submitted were not sufficient to obtain approval of…
May 25, 2021 News by Forest Ray PhD Ponvory Approved in EU for Active Relapsing Forms of MS The European Commission has approved PonvoryĀ (ponesimod) to treat adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and active disease, as defined by clinical or imaging features. The approval, which follows a recommendation from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use in March, covers clinically isolated…
May 6, 2021 News by Forest Ray PhD Global Phase 3 Trials of Fenebrutinib Enrolling Relapsing and PPMS Patients Two global Phase 3 clinical trials comparing fenebrutinib, anĀ investigational oral BTK inhibitor by Roche, with Aubagio (teriflunomide) are now enrolling adults withĀ relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), the National MS Society announced in a press release. The twin studies, called FENhance 1 (NCT04586023)…
May 5, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Safety of Oral DMTs for RRMS in Real-world Use Seen to Match Trial Findings People with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) using approved oral disease-modifyingĀ therapiesĀ generally tolerate the treatments well, with real-world adverse event profiles similar to those seen in clinical trials, an analysis of U.S. data indicates. Results also suggest high adherence to these therapies ā meaning patients are usually taking the therapies…
April 27, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #AANAM – Ocrevus, Rituximab Linked to More Severe COVID-19 Cases in Italy Editorās note: TheĀ Multiple Sclerosis News TodayĀ team is providing in-depth coverage of the 2021 Virtual AAN Annual Meeting, April 17ā22. GoĀ hereĀ to read the latest stories from the conference. Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that target CD20 are associated with worse outcomes from COVID-19 inĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, an…
April 23, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Let’s Treat Older MS Patients With More Respect As comic Rodney Dangerfield might have said, older people with MS “just don’t get no respect.” By older, I mean those of us who are 55 and up. By respect, I mean from researchers and some neurologists. So, as I approach my 73rd birthday, I have to tip my cap…
April 22, 2021 News by Forest Ray PhD #AANAM ā Ublituximab Reduced Relapse Rate, Disability Progression in Twin Trials Editorās note: TheĀ Multiple Sclerosis News TodayĀ team is providing in-depth coverage of the 2021 Virtual AAN Annual Meeting, April 17ā22. GoĀ hereĀ to read the latest stories from the conference. Ublituximab, an investigational therapy for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), significantly outperformed Aubagio (teriflunomide) at reducing patients’…
March 19, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Ponvory (ponesimod) Approved for Adults With Relapsing Forms of MS The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Ponvory (ponesimod) as an oral treatment for adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The approval covers clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), and active secondary progressive MS (SPMS). The treatment is taken as a…
February 18, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS EVOLUTION Trials Testing Evobrutinib Now Recruiting Two global Phase 3 clinical trials testing the investigational oral medication evobrutinib are recruiting participants with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The two identically-designed trials āĀ EVOLUTION RMS 1 (NCT04338022) and EVOLUTION RMS 2 (…
December 7, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Quality of Life, Virtual Reality Rehab, Aubagio and Brain Atrophy, Cancer Risk Review Study Examines Factors That Affect MS Patientsā Quality of Life What affects the qualify of your life as someone who lives with MS? Fatigue is at the top of my list, followed by difficulty walking. Now, COVID-19 plus gray, winter weather have added a bit of depression. So,…
December 2, 2020 News by Steve Bryson, PhD Aubagio Slows Grey Matter, Whole Brain Atrophy in CIS, Study Finds Studied for the first time,Ā Aubagio (teriflunomide) slowed the loss of cortical grey matter and whole-brain volume in people with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) during two years of therapy, a study found. The treatment was especially effective in those without brain lesions before treatment.
October 14, 2020 News by Forest Ray PhD Aubagio’s Long-term Benefits Not Influenced by Prior Treatments, Review Finds Prior treatment with disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) does not affect the long-term benefits of Aubagio (teriflunomide) in treating relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a review study. The study, “Prior treatment status: impact on the efficacy and safety of teriflunomide in multiple sclerosis,”…
September 16, 2020 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD #MSVirtual2020 – Long-term Aubagio Use Seen to Lower Relapse Risk for Children Continuous treatment with Aubagio (teriflunomide) can safely lower the risk of relapses and disability progression in children with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to interim data from the open-label extension of a Phase 3 trial. These findings were detailed at MSVirtual2020 by Tanuja Chitnis, MD,…
August 21, 2020 News by Marisa Wexler, MS FDA Approves Kesimpta, B-cell Targeting Therapy for Relapsing MS The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Novartis‘ Kesimpta (ofatumumab) as a self-administered treatment for adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), meaning those withĀ clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), and active secondary progressive MS (SPMS). According to Novartis,…