treatment

Researchers developed a new mouse model that more closely captures a specific type of inflammation characteristic of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) — and found, in experiments, that treatment with an oral medication called evobrutinib can lessen disease activity. This new mouse model may help scientists in MS to better study…

Undergoing a stem cell transplant, a procedure that aims to “reset” a person’s immune system, can reduce relapse rates and ease disability in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), new data show. The findings suggest that such a transplant — fully, autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or aHSCT — is…

A matrix protein called fibulin-2, which is increased in multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions, blocks the activity of oligodendrocytes, the cells responsible for making myelin. Blocking this protein may be a promising approach to restore myelin in people with the neurodegenerative disease, a study in mice showed. The data was…

Machine learning — using computer algorithms — can be used to identify people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) who are more likely to respond to treatment, a new study shows. The ability to predict treatment response could allow clinical trials to be designed more efficiently, researchers said. Jean-Pierre…

  Synaptogenix announced plans to advance bryostatin-1, its lead candidate, into clinical trials for multiple sclerosis (MS), marking the third neurological disease the small molecule therapy is being developed to potentially treat. “Multiple sclerosis joins Alzheimer’s disease (“AD”) and Fragile X syndrome as our third indication with potential clinical…

Levels of a protein called neurofilament light chain (NfL) in the blood can be used to predict the risk of future disease activity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study. The results also suggest that changes in NfL levels could be used to deduce the extent…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) treatments belonging to the class of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulators — such as Mayzent (siponimod) and Gilenya (fingolimod) — may be associated with a greater likelihood of skin cancer, results from a real-world study suggest. The association was the greatest for a form of…

Myelin is required for certain inhibitory neurons — which help to suppress abnormal activity in the brain — to work as they should, according to a study in mouse models. Loss of myelin on these neurons results in excessive electric activity in other nerve cells, likely disrupting the brain’s ability…

A researcher at the University of Adelaide, in Australia, has received an AU$390,000 grant (about $280,000) to investigate how inflammatory T-cells reach the blood and brain of people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The 3-year fellowship grant was awarded to Iain Comerford, PhD, for his project, titled “Stopping T cells…

Therapeutics designed to produce new oligodendrocytes — the cells responsible for the protective myelin sheath that is damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS) — might be the most effective approach for disorders such as MS, according to a study conducted in a fish model. That’s because oligodendrocytes that survive being…

The addition of neurodynamic therapy — a type of manual therapy targeting the nerves — to a standard treatment regimen using several different approaches reduced pain sensitivity and improved dexterity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to data from a clinical trial. “To the best of our…

VISIONARY-MS, a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the safety and effectiveness of CNM-Au8 in people with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) with disease-related visual impairment, will conclude early due to COVID-19 pandemic-related challenges. The release of trial data is expected in the second half of this year, according to…

The label of Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) — an approved therapy for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) — has been updated in Europe to no longer contain a warning against its use during breastfeeding. The label update follows a review by European Union health authorities of non-clinical and clinical evidence submitted…

Blood Stem Cell Transplant May Help Immune System Longer I’m a proponent of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (aHSCT) to treat MS. The process entails extracting a patient’s own stem cells, usually from the bone marrow, treating them to kill immune cells that trigger MS attacks, and then infusing…

Molecular “traps” made by neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, to fight bacteria may contribute to the excessive inflammatory activity of T-helper 17 immune T-cells, which are known to play a role in autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS). Neutrophils are equipped with a number of biochemical tools…

Treatment with an autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (aHSCT) seems to reboot the immune system in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients for at least three years, a small study found. The study, “Sustained immunotolerance in multiple sclerosis after stem cell transplant,” was published in Annals of Clinical and…

In this installment of our “Expert Voices” series, Multiple Sclerosis News Today asked Tim Coetzee, PhD, some of your questions related to the current state of multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment and cure research. Coetzee serves as the National MS Society’s chief advocacy, services, and science officer. In this capacity, he…

Pasithea Therapeutics announced plans to develop a tolerizing vaccine that would treat multiple sclerosis (MS) by “training” the immune system in ways that prevent its damaging attacks. The vaccine will be developed under Pasithea’s new chemical entity development program for MS in collaboration with Hooke…

Note: An earlier version of this story stated the Scottish Medicines Consortium approved Vumerity for RRMS patients in that country. The consortium decides to add a medicine to Scotland’s National Health Service; the MHRA approves treatments for England, Scotland, and Wales. The Scottish Medicines Consortium has approved adding the…

The Swedish Medical Products Agency has approved AB Science’s request to launch in the country a confirmatory Phase 3 clinical trial of its lead candidate masitinib in adults with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) and nonactive secondary progressive MS (SPMS). The decision comes on the heels of a similar authorization by the…

Combined Data May Predict Person’s Risk of Advancing From CIS to MS Clinically isolated syndrome is sometimes called “early MS.” It’s the diagnosis used when someone’s symptoms don’t quite look like MS, but it does appear that MS is lurking. It may take years for an actual…

Sports was a huge part of Armand Thoinet’s life, and when he was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) one week before his 19th birthday, that life turned upside down. He could no longer engage in activities that mattered greatly to him, such as rugby, tennis, and skiing. “I…

As usual, I’ve gone for what I hope to be an intriguing headline, because you’ve got to grab a reader by any means necessary. If you’ve read this far, I’m winning! This saga goes back well over a year, when my neurologist suggested I participate in a clinical trial for…

I’ve been popping vitamin D pills for years — decades, really. I never really understood why, I just knew that many people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are vitamin D-deficient. A recent study has cast some new light on why I should continue. It all seems to comes down to…

KAT7, an enzyme known to regulate gene activity, is essential for the process of teaching immune T-cells to correctly identify the body’s molecules and cells as ‘self’ — a process that goes awry in multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases. This enzyme is also critical for training T-cells…

More than half of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with self-injectable therapies — namely, glatiramer acetate, marketed as Copaxone, among others, or any of a host of interferons — showed no evidence of disease activity after two years, according to a study out of Turkey. Among patients treated for…

A relationship between meat consumption and how it affects gut bacteria, immune cell profiles, and metabolism was identified in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) participating in a small study. Specifically, a diet rich in meat was associated with a decrease in Bacteriodes thetaiotaomicron, a common gut bacteria that works…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by changes in methylation — a type of chemical modification in the DNA that changes how genes are read — in immune cells called T-cells, according to a new study. The results also suggest that treatments for MS can help to normalize methylation…

Atara Biotherapeutics has reached an agreement with Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies for the production of its cell therapy pipeline, including ATA188, an experimental therapy being investigated for the treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). Under the agreement, Fujifilm will acquire Atara’s T-Cell Operations and Manufacturing (ATOM) facility in Thousand…

COVID-19 Booster May Benefit Patients on Anti-CD20 Therapy After multiple reports of how Gilenya and anti-CD20 MS medications reduce the efficacy of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, here’s more evidence that a booster shot may improve that protection. The researchers report “modestly increased levels” of anti–SARS-CoV-2 antibodies after a third…