treatment

According to a study published in JAMA Neurology, multiple sclerosis patients are greatly benefited by Biogen Idec’s Tysabri (natalizumab) and tend to relapse if they discontinue treatment. Natalizumab had a protective effect on patients who were continuously treated with Tysabri beyond a 24-dose timepoint within the study,…

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) initiated a clinical trial to evaluate the antihistamine clemastine fumarate, manufactured by Novartis as Tavist, for its efficacy in treating multiple sclerosis patients. The laboratory of Dr. Jonah Chan, a professor of neurology at UCSF, used a high-throughput method to identify Tavist…

Stem therapy to treat multiple sclerosis may benefit greatly from a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by the laboratory of Fraser Sim, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at University of Buffalo’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Dr.

Lemtrada, a drug produced by Genzyme for the treatment of adult patients suffering from relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) with active disease, was approved by Argentina’s National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT). “We are pleased by the continued global support for Lemtrada,” said Genzyme…

Acorda Therapeutics recently announced receiving a notice letter from pharmaceutical company Actavis Plc indicating their plans to commercialize a generic version of Ampyra, Acorda’s multiple sclerosis treatment drug. Acorda claims that Actavis submitted a marketing approval application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking permission to develop and commercialize a new drug,…

The Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche recently announced a partnership agreement with California-based Inception Sciences and venture capital firm Versant Ventures. The three companies will work together to form a new company, Inception 5, which will be dedicated mostly to the development of therapies for multiple sclerosis. Inception 5’s research will focus…

Multiple sclerosis patients may soon benefit from StemGenex’s leading resource of adult adipose stem cells. StemGenex is now recruiting patients for a clinical trial investigating the regenerative potential of multiple sclerosis patients’ autologous stem cells derived from their own stromal vascular fraction. “Currently available drugs for multiple…

The risk of developing lipoatrophy for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients administrated with glatiramer acetate is greater than 60 percent, according to a study developed at the Riverside Medical Clinic that reviewed 73 MS patients. It was already known that the drug could cause the condition, however the rate is higher…

Biogen Idec, a U.S. biotechnology company specializing in therapies for neurological disorders, autoimmune disorders and cancer, has announced that more than 60 company-sponsored presentations highlighting key data from its extensive portfolio of marketed and investigational multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies were featured during two 2014 neurology conferences. The company…

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can predict responses to depression treatment in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to Anthony Feinstein, Professor at the Department of Psychiatry of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre & the University of Toronto. In the presentation “Depression in MS: Is brain imaging helpful?” at this…

ImStem Biotechnology, Inc. is one step closer to harnessing the power of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to treat multiple sclerosis. Most recently, ImStem announced the successful treatment of an animal model of multiple sclerosis (experimental autoimmune encephalitis, EAE) using mesenchymal stem cells derived from hESCs (hES-MSCs). Using hES-MSCs…

Biogen Idec is currently sponsoring a clinical trial evaluating its therapy Tysabri (natalizumab) in patients with secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis. Although relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis is more common and well-researched, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates approximately half of relapse-remitting patients will transition to secondary-progressive within 19 years of diagnosis. The…

Another study, in what has become a succession of Canadian studies, has failed to detect a link between blocked neck veins and multiple sclerosis proposed by Italian physician and researcher Dr. Paolo Zamboni in 2008 (a report in the Lancet noted that this hypothesis was originally posed by…

Cambridge, Mass. Based Genzyme, a Sanofi subsidiary, announced May 30 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the company’s resubmission of its supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) seeking approval of its proprietary drug Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) for treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS).

The network of nationally recognized Multiple Sclerosis centers continues to grow throughout the United States. Recently, the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic at University of Texas (UT) Medicine San Antonio was selected as the new Multiple Sclerosis Partner in Care, a recognition granted by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The new…

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency recently offered a positive opinion for the marketing authorization of Biogen Idec’s Plegridy therapy, a pegylated interferon administered subcutaneously for adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The positive opinion will now be sent to the European Commission, which grants…