Treatment

Welcome to “MS News Notes,” where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. The articles in today’s column came from the annual Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), held Oct. 26–28 in Amsterdam. Most…

Octave announced the commercial availability of a multiple sclerosis (MS) care program that examines various facets of a person’s disease to help determine the best course of treatment and management that’s tailored to an individual. The program, called MS Precision Care Solution, combines blood biomarker…

Up to two years of Vumerity (diroximel fumarate) treatment was generally well-tolerated and led to significant decreases in disease activity in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to a final analysis of data from the open-label EVOLVE-MS-1 Phase 3 clinical trial. Indirect comparisons of Vumerity-treated patients against those…

The experimental therapy ublituximab works better than the approved treatment Aubagio (teriflunomide) at easing disability independently of relapses, and at reducing overall disease activity, in adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). That’s according to exploratory analyses of pooled data from the identical ULTIMATE I…

Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), an anti-CD20 therapy developed by Genentech, seems to be superior to rituximab at lowering relapse rates among patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to data from two large MS registries. Overall, the findings suggest that rituximab cannot be considered just as good as —…

Early use of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) among people with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) may lead to overall lower levels of disability, according to a new analysis. But staying on treatment does not appear to significantly slow disability progression over time. People with SPMS who used DMTs early…

Exposure to high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) is associated with an increased risk of cervical abnormalities in women with multiple sclerosis (MS), recent data suggest. The findings are consistent with previous reports showing these treatments may raise the risk of certain cancers, likely as a consequence of their immune-modulating…

Disability progression in the absence of relapses is less common in children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS) than among people with adult-onset disease, according to data covering more than 5,000 patients with relapsing forms of MS. Nevertheless, this form of progression — called progression independent of relapse activity,…

Long-term treatment with Gilenya (fingolimod) continues to be safe and lower the rate of relapses in children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS) more than Avonex (interferon beta-1a) does. That’s according to up to six years of data from the ongoing PARADIGMS Phase 3 trial (NCT01892722), wherein…

Treatment with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) before or during pregnancy does not seem to increase the risk of major pregnancy or infant complications, with 79% of the pregnancies leading to live births, according to data from more than 2,000 women with multiple sclerosis (MS). The results were shared at the 38th…

Nearly 80% of people with early-stage relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) show no evidence of disease activity after two years of treatment with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), according to updated data from the ENSEMBLE Phase 3b trial. More than 88% of the patients were negative for MRI activity, meaning they…

An intravenous (into-the-vein) formulation of ofatumumab — a disease-modifying therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) sold under the brand name Kesimpta — resulted in a 63% reduction in relapse rates among MS patients, with about 60% remaining relapse-free over the first year of treatment, a recent study in…

Here are a few multiple sclerosis (MS) stories that caught my eye last week: Can nabiximols ease MS spasticity? In “4 Weeks of Nabiximols Found to Ease Spasticity in MS Pilot Study,” Margarida Maia reports some potentially good news for people with MS spasticity. Nabiximols, marketed in…

Trethera has been awarded a $1.6 million grant to further develop TRE-515 as a potential treatment for optic neuritis — inflammation of the nerves that transmit data from the eyes to the brain — which also is a common symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS). TRE-515 is a first-in-class…

Four weeks of treatment with nabiximols — an oral spray containing compounds found in the cannabis plant — significantly reduced spasticity and generally improved arm and hand function in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with moderate-to-severe spasticity, according to a small pilot study in Italy. Notably, after nabiximols, patients showed…

For National Physical Therapy Month, Helius Medical Technologies is spotlighting physical therapists who make possible the success of the company’s portable neuromodulation stimulator (PONS) device to treat gait problems in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Helius will broaden access to its free online PoNS training program by enabling…

EHP-101, an experimental treatment being clinically tested for multiple sclerosis (MS), activates a cellular signaling pathway that promotes blood vessel development and reduces inflammation following brain injury, a new study shows. The findings continue to support the use of EHP-101 in MS, a condition marked by excess inflammation and…

GoodRx, in collaboration with Biogen, has made the enrollment form for starting a multiple sclerosis (MS) patient on Vumerity (diroximel fumarate) available on its new “Provider Mode” digital platform. By adding the electronic enrollment form, the company hopes doctors will be able to prescribe their patients Vumerity more…

Blood levels of nesfatin-1, irisin, adropin, and preptin — all regulatory hormones known to control energy balance — are significantly reduced in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients relative to healthy people, a small study showed. While the implications of these findings remain unclear, the…

NexImmune is working with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to develop cell therapies for people with immunological disorders associated with certain viral infections, namely the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1). A history of infection with EBV — mostly…

Among children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS), treatment with Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) resulted in less disease activity on MRI scans and fewer relapses, compared with Avonex (interferon beta-1a), according to new data from the CONNECT Phase 3 trial. Researchers noted the lack of disease-modifying therapies…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who started taking Tysabri (natalizumab) long after their diagnosis were found to have worsened disease progression. But those who began using it earlier showed less aggravated clinical and radiological outcomes of the disease than participants who started treatment later, a study showed. The study,…

Electrical stimulation of the brain through electrodes placed on the scalp may ease some measures of spasticity for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to results from a small clinical trial. Using this novel route of brain stimulation was shown to impact muscle contractions in patients with spasticity…

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (aHSCT) reduces markers of nerve fiber and myelin damage in people with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), according to a small study done in Sweden. “We investigated if therapeutic intervention with aHSCT could halt the injurious process leading to tissue damage in MS,” researchers wrote.

Treatment with interferon beta (IFN-beta) — a disease-modifying therapy that lowers inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS) — was found to restore the ability of blood vessels in the brain to dilate following a stimulus. A new study suggests that this ability, called cerebrovascular reactivity or CVR, is reduced…

The Overall Disability Response Score, a combination of three different assessments of disability, could be used to more accurately evaluate the effectiveness of treatments in multiple sclerosis (MS) clinical trials, a new study illustrates. The score is composed of three measures commonly used to assess disability in MS, which…

To help ensure that more multiple sclerosis (MS) patients get specialized care, the Michigan Institute for Neurological Disorders (MIND) has opened a physician fellowship program for neurologists. The one-year program is led by Martin Belkin, MD, a neurologist who specializes in MS research and care at MIND, a private…

Kesimpta (ofatumumab) is more cost-effective for treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) than most other disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) approved in Canada, according to a new analysis. The analysis indicated that Kesimpta is generally more effective and associated with fewer costs than the majority of MS treatments, with the…

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will grant Trethera Corp. a new patent covering the composition and chemical structure of TRE-515, an experimental oral therapy being developed for multiple sclerosis (MS) and cancer. The patent number 11,446,307, titled “Crystalline forms of a deoxycytidine kinase inhibitor and…

The likelihood of survival is about 7.5 times higher for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who take their disease-modifying treatments as directed compared with those who do not, an analysis of data from U.S. veterans shows. The study, “Impact of Adherence with Disease-Modifying Therapies on All-Cause…