Mayzent Approved for Active SPMS Patients in England and Wales This is great news for people with MS in England and Wales. Mayzent (siponimod) is a needed weapon in the MS battle. It is approved for use in active cases of secondary progressive MS (SPMS), while most other disease-modifying…
treatment
Eli Lilly has reached an agreement to acquire Disarm Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing a new class of disease-modifying treatments for patients with axonal degeneration, including those with multiple sclerosis (MS). In its announcement, Lilly committed to advancing Disarm’s prospective therapies, currently in preclinical development.
Helius Medical Technologies partnered with Breakthrough Health on a project focused on understanding how people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the U.S. evaluate the therapies at their disposal in terms of how well they help their ability to walk. The collaboration will take advantage of an MS companion application, called…
Mayzent (siponimod) has become the first oral medication to be approved for people with active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) in England and Wales. Following this decision by England’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) — which reversed its opinion announced in June — the…
Scientists developed a new therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) that prevents immune cells from exiting the lymph nodes and entering the spinal cord of mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) — a condition that mimics MS in humans. The therapy, which consists of a…
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has approved Mayzent (siponimod) for the treatment of active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) in Scotland. Mayzent, developed by Novartis, is a tablet taken once daily to counter a person’s disability progression. SPMS gradually develops from relapsing-remitting MS, and is…
Prior treatment with disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) does not affect the long-term benefits of Aubagio (teriflunomide) in treating relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a review study. The study, “Prior treatment status: impact on the efficacy and safety of teriflunomide in multiple sclerosis,”…
When I was first diagnosed with MS, I didn’t have a choice about what disease-modifying therapy (DMT) I could take. My neurologist held up his hand and pointed one by one to each finger, with each…
Human placental extract eased clinical symptoms, inflammation, and weight and myelin loss in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS), a study reported. Its researchers proposed that placental extracts be investigated as a way of better managing MS symptoms in people. …
Gilenya and Tecfidera Similarly Effective at Treating RRMS, Real-world Study Says Gilenya and Tecfidera are both oral disease-modifying therapies. Both meds attempt to limit the inflammatory action of the immune system. Both now have generic versions. And as this story reports, neither appears to have a leg up over…
A search is on for an anti-inflammatory treatment targeting the C-reactive protein — CRP, a biomarker of inflammation produced by the liver — of possible use in a wide variety of conditions, including immune-mediated diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Researchers at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute and the…
Oral administration of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) — a natural simple sugar sold as a dietary supplement — prevents myelin degeneration and loss of motor function in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS). Myelin, the protective sheath around nerve fibers that helps to speed transmission of signals between nerve cells, is damaged…
Health Canada has approved Zeposia (ozanimod), an oral daily treatment for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in the country. Approval does not assure that Zeposia will be available to Canadian patients at no or low cost, as publicly funded prescription plans are largely administered by each…
Lupin‘s generic equivalent of Tecfidera has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), the company announced in a press release. The therapy — dimethyl fumarate delayed-release capsules — is indicated for use in people with clinically…
Connectivity between parts of the brain related to vision and attention is altered in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), both during rest and while actively engaged in a task, a new study indicates. The study, “Altered brain network function during attention-modulated visual processing in multiple…
Rituximab, an investigational B-cell depletion therapy that target CD20 to treat people with multiple sclerosis (MS), has significant effects on the characteristics of B-cells that return after treatment is stopped, with cells being less mature yet more activated toward a pro-inflammatory state, a study showed. Treatment also…
A pathway controlled by three proteins — Daam2, Nedd4, and VHL — was identified by researchers as a key regulator of myelin production during central nervous system development and regeneration after injury. Myelin, the protective fatty layer that covers nerve fibers and helps to speed transmission of signals between nerve cells,…
Gilenya (fingolimod) and Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) are similarly effective at lowering the frequency of relapses and delaying disability progression in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a real-world study from Switzerland reported. These efficacy measures were also consistent whether patients were new to a disease-modifying therapy (DMT)…
For years, some people have warned of a possible connection between multiple sclerosis (MS) and the amalgam fillings many of us have in our teeth. The concern has been that these fillings contain mercury, which can be toxic, especially if they are removed. In large part, these concerns have…
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) are among the high-risk groups advised to avoid dental amalgams — silver-colored fillings that are 50% mercury — under new recommendations issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Amalgams can be used by dentists to restore the structure and surfaces of teeth damaged by decay.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has awarded a two-year, $373,000 Fast Forward grant to researchers at the University of California Riverside School of Medicine to identify compounds best able to replace myelin lost over the course of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a press release.
When safety measures like isolation are in place, neither disease-modifying therapy (DMT) use nor greater physical disability appear to heighten the risk of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) contracting COVID-19, a large U.K. registry-based study found. Preliminary study data also suggested that these factors do not affect…
The use of certain disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) such as rituximab and Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), which lower the number of a patient’s immune B-cells, may increase the odds of developing a more severe COVID-19 disease course for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a study suggests. The study, which includes data from the…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Cipla’s dimethyl fumarate capsules, a generic version of Biogen’s Tecfidera, to treat adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), the company announced in a press release. This generic is packaged as 120 mg or 240 mg…
Dutch Amarna Therapeutics announced a research collaboration with Spanish Progreso y Salud Foundation (FPS) to investigate the efficacy of its gene therapy delivery technology in multiple sclerosis (MS) and diabetes. MS is thought to be caused by immune-mediated inflammation that damages myelin — an insulating sheath around nerve…
MS Prevalence at Over 2.8 Million Worldwide, Update to Atlas Reports With almost 3 million of us around the world, we’re not really rare, but we’re rare enough that our MS is still a puzzle to many. People seem to know what muscular dystrophy is (probably because of the…
Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) report moderate scores in mental and physical health, as measured by three, well-established quality-of-life scales, according to an analysis of published literature. The study, “Global, regional and national quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis: a global systematic review and…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted an investigational new drug application (IND) for ANK-700, a treatment candidate for multiple sclerosis (MS) that is being developed by the Swiss company Anokion. With this approval, Anokion can enter clinical testing and is planning to…
Last week, I again started my twice-annual infusion of Rituxan (rituximab). After 384 days without my disease-modifying therapy, my team decided I could no longer wait. In its absence, my symptomology had worsened. Halting progression trumped a pandemic, and with personal protective equipment in place, I begin…
Older age at disease-modifying therapy (DMT) discontinuation is the main predictive factor of sustained “no evidence of disease activity” (NEDA) in people starting DMT immediately after being diagnosed with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), according to a study in Austria. In particular, patients discontinuing DMT at age 45 or…