treatment

MedDay, a biotechnology company that develops new drugs for nervous system disorders, announced an update on the progress of its development pipeline with its lead product MD1003 for the treatment of primary and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). The first study is expected to be complete in early 2015, while…

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. released the first results from its phase 1b trial that for the evaluation of an oral drug candidate called APD334 for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The multiple ascending dose clinical trial demonstrated encouraging findings about the drug, which is designed to target the sphingosine…

The Scottish Medicines Consortium has just approved Biogen Idec’s Plegridy (peg interferon beta-1a) for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) in patients between 18 to 65 years old, making the Consortium the first United Kingdom-based regulatory body to endorse the disease-modifying drug on the…

Biogen Idec, a Cambridge Massachusetts Biotechnology company, has released results from its Phase 2 acute optic neuritis (AON) RENEW trial. The trial tested anti-LINGO-1, a medication that restores myelin — a fatty substance that facilitates nerve cell impulses by wrapping around them and providing insulation. The trial results indicate that anti-LINGO-1…

California-based, late-preclinical stage pharmaceutical company, Bionure, Inc,. has just announced it has signed a Sponsored Research Agreement with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, thanks to Fast Forward, a division of the Society dedicated to commercial research and development for novel solutions for multiple sclerosis (MS). According…

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) announced late last month its New Drug Application (NDA) to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for the multiple sclerosis relapse prevention drug glatiramer acetate (active ingredient) — which is sold in some markets under the trade name Copaxone. Developed by Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries…

Canada has one of the world’s highest Multiple Sclerosis (MS) prevalence rates. Some 100,000 Canadians live with the disease, and three people are newly diagnosed each day. Most people are diagnosed with relapsing MS in their twenties and thirties, and MS is the most common neurological disease affecting young adults…

Results from a Phase 3 clinical trial entitled “AVANCE” revealed promising clinical outcomes in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis treated for one year with peg interferon beta-1a. The analysis was published in the journal BMC Neurology, in a study entitled “Effect of peg interferon beta-1a on MRI measures and…

Immunosupressive therapy in combination with hemotopoietic cell transplant was found to induce remission of Multiple Sclerosis activity for up to 3 years. The new findings could usher in a new mode of effective treatment for MS that could greatly improve quality of life for those with the disease and…

A new study published online before print in the journal JAMA Neurology reports that three years on, most members of a small subject group of patients with active relapsing-remitting (RR) multiple sclerosis (MS) who had received an experimental high-dose immunosuppressive therapy (HDIT) followed by a transplant of their own…

Given the fact that MS is a chronic, progressive, and disabling disease for which there is no cure, the multiple sclerosis community is always looking forward to the latest news regarding new therapies, devices or scientific findings about treating and curing the disease. These are the top 14 news stories of 2014 from…

Biopharmaceutical company Receptos, Inc. is enrolling the first patient in their SUNBEAM phase 3 trial to evaluate the company’s investigational therapy for the treatment of patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) and ulcerative colitis (UC), called RPC1063. In addition, Receptos has recently started its phase 3 …

British Columbia’s PharmaCare drug program has announced that it will fund AUBAGIO, a therapy developed by Genzyme for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. AUBAGIO (teriflunomide) 14 mg has been officially added to PharmaCare’s provincial formulary as a first-line oral agent for patients suffering from relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). As…

A study published on December 22 in JAMA Neurology emphasizes that a standard measurement used to gauge multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms, known as “no-evidence-of-disease-activity” (NEDA) is important for determining how the disease will progress long-term. MS is the most common degenerative neurological condition that affects young adults worldwide.

Icometrix, a biotechnology company focused on unique projects for diagnosing and treating multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, has designed new software for the measurement of brain lesions and brain volumes and their changes over time. MS, a chronic and neurological condition that affects about 2.5 million people throughout the world, is often first detected in patients at…

Mapi Pharma Ltd., a development stage pharmaceutical company specializing in the development of high-barrier to entry and high-added value generic drugs, announced it has treated the first patient in the Phase IIa study of GA Depot for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Lead investigator Professor Ariel Miller, M.D., Ph.D., Head of the Multiple Sclerosis & Brain…

A new study on the development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies to treat neuroinflammatory and demyelinating disease entitled “SEMA4D compromises blood–brain barrier, activates microglia, and inhibits remyelination in neurodegenerative disease” was published in the journal Neurobiology of Disease by Ernest S. Smith part of…

Scientists from Amsterdam-based Motek Medical developed an innovative virtual reality system that allows clinicians to see and analyze a patient’s balance, locomotion, and coordination – a tool that could reshape rehabilitation and clinical studies, as the system allows the patient to experience challenging and dynamically changing physical…

A new Multiple Sclerosis pilot study was awarded a $39,000 grant by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to investigate how patients’ sensation in their feet while standing impacts balance and whether their ability to walk is improved through the use of vibrating insoles. Multiple Sclerosis is characterized by the destruction of the…

In a new study, researchers based at the Imperial College, London will follow in unprecedented detail the events and experiences in lives of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in order to improve evaluation protocols for MS treatments. MS is estimated to afflict more than two million people globally, more…

A team of researchers from Ohio State University received a $44,000 grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to fund the development and testing of an interactive video game designed to promote and supplement physical therapy among patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS), an…

2014 was a year of major progress in research for treating and curing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This year the National Multiple Sclerosis Society reports that the organization invested over $50 million into 380 new and ongoing research initiatives and projects for MS. The Society remains highly…

Israel-based biopharmaceutical company Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced last week that its thrice-weekly COPAXONE® (glatiramer acetate) 40mg/ml treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) has received positive results in a decentralized procedure. The favorable outcome proceeds a Positive Assessment Report from the United Kingdom, the Reference Member…

Novartis International recently provided an update on its fingolimod Phase III trial evaluating the use of the drug in primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), reporting that the study did not reveal any significant benefits of prescribing fingolimod over a placebo. However, results regarding…

Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to review the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for Dysport® (abobotulinumtoxinA) to treat upper limb spasticity, a condition that affects many people in the United States, including multiple sclerosis (MS)…

Researchers from Canada and the U.S. have found that brains of young people with multiple sclerosis fail to develop fully. The article appeared November 5, 2014 in the journal Neurology entitled, “Onset of multiple sclerosis before adulthood leads to failure of age-expected brain growth.” Multiple sclerosis is caused…

The “2014 Multiple Sclerosis Therapeutic Update,” published in the journal Neurohospitalist by author Bruce Cree, MD, PhD, MCR, provides a positive outlook on the state of current treatments and research for future treatments of multiple sclerosis. A host of new therapies, as well as common-place…

Neurology and autoimmune therapeutics company GeNeuro SA has just announced the formation of a partnership with independent French pharmaceutical company Servier for the co-development and marketing of GNbAC1 for Multiple Sclerosis (MS). It is the first humanized monocloncal antibody treatment formulated to address one of this disease’s causal factors, making it…

Genzyme, a Sanofi company with over 30 years of dedication to researching and developing novel treatments for rare and orphan diseases, has just announced the Alberta Drug Program has finally decided to include Aubagio® (teriflunomide) 14mg in the provincial drug formulary, indicated for the first-line…

A team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside, along with other collaborators, have identified a drug associated with estrogen, indazole chloride (Ind-Cl), that blocks the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings were reported December 1st in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. MS…