Lapix Therapeutics has met with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to determine how to advance its investigational treatment candidate LPX-TI641 into clinical trials for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The pre-investigational new drug (pre-IND) meeting is usually the first formal one companies seeking to…
treatment
The signaling protein fractalkine was found to promote the repair of myelin — the protecting coating around nerve fibers — that is damaged by the mistaken immune attack that leads to multiple sclerosis (MS), a mouse study demonstrated. In an animal model of the disease, the molecule…
A recent question on the MS News Today Facebook page generated some buzz about getting a buzz on to treat your multiple sclerosis (MS). The question was, “What helps you the most to manage your daily life with MS?” Many people with MS said the thing that helped…
TG Therapeutics’ Briumvi (ublituximab-xiiy), a CD20 inhibitor recently approved for adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), is now commercially available in the U.S., the company announced. The treatment was approved in the U.S. late last year, with indications that include clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS),…
Patient dosing has begun in a Phase 2 trial testing Denali Therapeutics‘ investigational oral RIPK1 inhibitor SAR443820 in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The clinical trial (NCT05630547) seeks to enroll about 168 patients, age 18–60, with either relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), active and nonactive secondary progressive…
The use of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) by pregnant women with multiple sclerosis (MS) significantly increased over the last decade or so, and fewer of them are stopping treatment before giving birth, a single-center study in Italy reported. While most patients (95.1%) discontinued a DMT while pregnant between 2005…
Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) seems to be equally effective at stabilizing disease activity in Black and white patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a U.S. study found. Disability levels and MRI disease markers remained generally unchanged over the two-year study in both groups, despite Black patients having more severe disability…
In evaluating potential treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) over the past two decades, England’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) made differing assumptions about whether and how the therapies’ effects will diminish over time. Such assumptions have a significant impact in estimating a therapy’s cost-effectiveness — a…
Welcome to “MS News Notes,” where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: Gilenya alternative The disease-modifying therapy (DMT) Gilenya (fingolimod) has been around since 2010. Now the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has…
As you read this, a group of scientists is doing multiple sclerosis (MS) research high above the earth. Their laboratory is in orbit about 250 miles up, aboard the International Space Station. Working with researchers at the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), astronauts have been helping…
Researchers have identified specific areas of brain damage associated with depression in multiple sclerosis (MS), but not with other symptoms of the disease. The findings could pave the way toward new treatments for MS-related depression that work to stimulate these regions. “The more we know about the connectivity of…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Tascenso ODT, a bioequivalent formulation of the multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy Gilenya (fingolimod), at a higher patient dose, according to the pharmaceutical company that will market the treatment in the U.S. The newly approved therapy, which is delivered as…
About 10%-20% of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) receive baclofen to control their spasticity, but up to half of patients stop the medication in the first six months, a large Swedish population-based study shows. The high rates of discontinuation suggest baclofen has “a low success rate of…
FSD Pharma has submitted an application to Health Canada asking to start a Phase 1 clinical trial of Lucid-MS, the company’s experimental and myelin-protective oral therapy for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The trial will not involve patients and is designed to investigate the safety and tolerability of…
People with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who are receiving oral disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are still more likely to experience a relapse or any form of disease activity if they are smokers, a study found. Researchers also observed that former smokers had a disease…
Uses of virtual reality-based physiotherapy to improve balance and gait in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are linked to lower dropout rates than those found with conventional rehabilitation methods, a review of clinical trials suggested. Although the difference between the two physiotherapy approaches was not statistically significant, adherence to…
Using a new approach, researchers have identified new signaling molecules that regulate the activation of certain subsets of astrocytes thought to drive inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS). The new methodology, called FIND-seq, enables the selection of single cells from a sample based on the expression of specific genes and…
“I was told I’m in a flare-up,” a newly diagnosed person with multiple sclerosis (MS) wrote to a Facebook group the other day. She said the flare-up had been going on “for a while now” and wondered when she could expect it to calm down. After I pondered…
Pheno Therapeutics has entered into an agreement with UCB to develop new therapies aimed at remyelination to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurological disorders that are characterized by the loss of myelin, the companies announced. “This license allows us to accelerate a promising drug target towards…
A new therapy that delivers an anti-inflammatory compound to nervous system immune cells via cellular “shipping containers” called exosomes showed promise in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS), a study reports. The study, “Resveratrol-loaded macrophage exosomes alleviate multiple sclerosis through targeting microglia,” was published in the…
Aerobic training for up to three months significantly outperformed less-strenuous exercise at improving walking capacity among people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study reports. However, the benefits of aerobic exercise seem to be greater among patients without MS-related damage in the insula — a brain region involved in…
A treatment containing neural stem cells derived from a human fetus was shown to be well tolerated in a small clinical trial of people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Results showed some promising effects on markers of inflammation and brain atrophy. Researchers said these preliminary findings “warrant…
Welcome to “MS News Notes,” where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: Tongue stimulator now easier to obtain A Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PoNS) is a mouthpiece that mildly stimulates nerves in the tongue that…
Helius Medical Technologies has extended by six months a program that allows multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the U.S. to access its Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PoNS) device at a reduced cost. The Patient Therapy Access Program (PTAP) partly subsidizes the cost of using PoNS — an…
The new year is bringing a new disease-modifying therapy (DMT) to the multiple sclerosis (MS) arsenal. Shortly after Christmas, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Briumvi (ublituximab), which joins a small group of DMTs that aim to halt MS progression by knocking out certain…
Multiple tiny injections of myelin-related small proteins alongside suppressors of the activity of dendritic cells, done using a device akin to a tattoo gun, powerfully reduced the severity of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a mouse model of the disease. That’s according to new findings announced by Therapeutic Solutions…
TeraImmune is extending its collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to continue developing regulatory T-cell-based therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases. The extension will let the company continue optimize the manufacturing process for its lead regulatory T-cell (Treg) product in…
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the U.S. now may order a Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PoNS) device online through a new e-commerce site launched by the device’s developer, Helius Medical Technologies. The website, built in partnership with the telehealth company UpScript, marks the first time…
Researchers in Iran are conducting a clinical trial to test the effects of taking ginger supplements for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Ginger extracts have shown some promise in animal models of multiple sclerosis (MS), but no trial has yet determined the impact that ginger supplements may…
A second person with non-active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) treated with foralumab nasal spray in a single-patient access program is continuing to show improvements 11 months after starting the therapy, according to an update from foralumab’s developer, Tiziana Life Sciences. The patient, dubbed EA2, experienced a…