Researchers have identified three distinct immune signatures in the blood of people with early multiple sclerosis (MS) that seem to be linked to specific disease trajectories and response to treatment, potentially offering a path to personalized care. “These findings represent a pivotal shift towards precision medicine in MS,” Heinz Wiendl,…
treatment
The prescribing label for Mavenclad (cladribine) in Great Britain has been extended to include the treatment of adults with active relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), as defined by clinical or imaging features. This decision made the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) the first to…
The use of obesity medications — approved drugs for treating diabetes and promoting weight loss — is associated with a reduced chance of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to real-world data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a study found. In particular, medicines that activate a receptor…
Renowned experts in multiple sclerosis (MS) healthcare, research, and advocacy will again gather at the annual meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC), slated this year for May 29 to June 1. The event, now in its 38th edition, will return to the Music City Center, in Nashville,…
An inverse vaccine developed by Nykode Therapeutics to boost immune system tolerance to a specific protein target was able to prevent the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a mouse model of the disease. The vaccine, known as a Vaccibody, is designed to teach the immune system to…
Helius Medical Technologies is collaborating with Lovell Government Services to make its PoNS device — designed to improve walking ability in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) — available to U.S. veterans and MS patients in other federal healthcare systems. The PoNS device, officially named the Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator, is…
Kyverna Therapeutics‘ cell-based therapy KYV-101 had an acceptable safety profile and promising treatment effects when given to two people with hard-to-treat progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a case study. “We are very pleased about offering this potentially paradigm-shifting treatment opportunity to patients that have exhausted other medical…
People who start treatment with Tysabri (natalizumab) soon after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) are at a lower risk of relapse in the long term compared with patients who start on less effective disease-modifying therapies (DMT), a study has found. Patients on Tysabri, an antibody-based therapy,…
The French company Juvisé Pharmaceuticals has acquired the rights to develop and market the approved multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy Ponvory (ponesimod) outside the U.S. and Canada. The global rights were acquired from Actelion Pharmaceuticals, the therapy’s original developer and now part of Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients diagnosed in more recent years — specifically after 2017 — were more likely to start sooner on a first MS disease-modifying therapy (DMT) than were those diagnosed between 2014 and 2016, an analysis of data from three large MS registries found. However, starting with…
High-efficacy therapies given early can significantly reduce the risk of disability worsening in children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly when treatment is started while patients have fairly minimal disability, according to a new study. While lower-efficacy therapies were also associated with a reduced risk of disability progression…
Treatment with the neuroprotective protein HB-EGF eased inflammation and promoted tissue recovery across various disease stages in a multiple sclerosis (MS) mouse model, recent research suggests. Researchers found that HB-EGF is produced by astrocytes, a type of nerve support cell, to ease acute inflammation early on, but this protective…
Where does the time go? Six months had passed since my last treatment, which meant it was time for another. After my August 2022 diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), I was given only one option for treatment: Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), which is a disease-modifying therapy that’s used…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted SetPoint Medical, which is developing a nerve stimulator for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), into a pilot program designed to promote the development of new medical devices, the company said. The Total Product Life Cycle Advisory Program…
While regulatory T-cells (Tregs) are able to promote remyelination — the repair of the myelin sheath that’s damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS) — this ability declines significantly with age, a new study shows. Based on the findings, researchers have identified molecular targets that may boost the myelin-repairing features…
In multiple sclerosis (MS), lesions — areas of abnormal tissue in the nervous system — start as a core of a few inflammatory immune cells, with inflammatory damage then spreading outward from these cells to form a lesion. That’s according to a new study from Sweden, in which researchers…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has designated SetPoint Medical’s neurostimulator a breakthrough device for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). This designation is intended to accelerate the development of devices intending to more effectively treat or diagnose life-threatening or chronically debilitating diseases than standard approaches.
Lumina Imaging has partnered with the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) to provide affordable brain and spinal cord MRI scans to multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The partnership makes Lumina the preferred provider for the MSAA’s MRI Access Program in northeast Ohio. The program is designed…
The Polish biotechnology company PolTREG plans to launch Phase 2 trials testing its Tregs therapy — the T-cell-based treatment PTG-007 — in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Poland later this year. The biotech company has earned a Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) certification for its new manufacturing…
Metabolon and Cardiff University are partnering to discover new biomarkers that could help better understand disease mechanisms and develop new treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS). The project leverages Metabolon’s expertise in metabolomics, a field of research that measures all products of metabolism, called metabolites, that are made…
Treatment with rituximab, an approved CD20 inhibitor that’s sometimes used off-label for multiple sclerosis (MS), was found to adequately control the neurodegenerative disease in patients diagnosed during childhood or adolescence, a new study showed. The therapy, given by infusion into the bloodstream, was generally safe and significantly reduced…
Getting physical exercise can improve subjective well-being and health-related quality of life for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new meta-analysis shows. “Exercise interventions, especially aerobic or combined aerobic and resistance training, should be implemented in clinical practice to promote mental health” and health-related quality of life in people…
Taking antibody-based medications for multiple sclerosis (MS) while breastfeeding does not appear to harm a child’s health or development during at least the first three years of life, according to a preliminary study of more than 180 babies. Children breastfed by mothers taking Tysabri (natalizumab), Ocrevus (ocrelizumab),…
In multiple sclerosis (MS), lesions in the brain may start with small clusters of immune cells called microglia, a new study reveals. Scientists are working to understand exactly how these small clusters may develop into MS lesions, which they hope could uncover new targets for treating the disease.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided not to approve an application seeking clearance of GA Depot — a long-acting formulation of glatiramer acetate — for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Importantly, this is not a rejection of the application for the…
Amanda Olivier, left, and Sagirah Ahmed Norris pose with their medals at the Athletes with Disabilities Half Marathon in The Woodlands, Texas, in 2023. (Photos courtesy of Amanda Olivier and Sagirah Ahmed Norris) Day 8 of 31 This is Amanda Olivier and Sagirah Ahmed Norris’ story: AO: I awoke…
TG Therapeutics has secured three additional U.S. patents for Briumvi (ublituximab-xiiy), an anti-CD20 antibody that’s been approved to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the patent numbers 11,807,689; 11,814,439; and 11,884,740 specifically cover the composition and…
People with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) being treated with an infusion CD20 inhibitor such as Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) can safely transition to the more recent Briumvi (ublituximab-xiiy), which is given in shorter infusion times. That’s according to data from the ENHANCE Phase 3b clinical trial…
Sam Roman, MD, travels to Montana to conduct home visits for patients enrolled in the TREAT-MS clinical trial. (Photos courtesy of Sam Roman) Day 6 of 31 This is Sam Roman’s story: It was during a particularly stressful period of medical school in 2015 when I had my first…
Convelo Therapeutics is developing two experimental oral treatments to promote myelin repair in multiple sclerosis (MS) and both have shown promise in preclinical models. The company is in the final stages of safety studies in large animals. Once those studies are done, it plans to start studies that…