treatment

The rate of disability progression among people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) has slowed over the years due to advances in disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), according to a long-term analysis. Patients diagnosed in recent decades have experienced fewer progression events associated with relapses, called relapse-associated worsening (RAW), and also…

Researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University have discovered a plant-derived small molecule that can promote the growth of cells that produce myelin, the protective coating around nerve fibers that’s damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS). The naturally occurring molecule, sulfuretin, blocks the activity of an enzyme that…

Increased production of cholesterol by stem cells in the brain contributes to neurological damage in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study conducted in lab-grown cells. Findings suggest cholesterol-lowering medications can reverse this damage, implying such treatments might be able to be repurposed for MS. “Cholesterol metabolism has…

An independent data monitoring committee has recommended that the twin ENSURE Phase 3 trials testing vidofludimus calcium in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) continue as planned without adjustments. The opinion that the trials are worth continuing was based on a review of interim, unblinded trial…

Treatment with modafinil, a medication used to reduce excessive sleepiness, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can both provide clinically meaningful reductions in fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study reports. Combining modafinil with CBT, a form of talk therapy, wasn’t more effective for MS-related fatigue than…

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is awarding a total of $4.6 million in funding to advance research into how the protective myelin sheath that’s damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS) can be repaired — a step toward developing new treatments for the disease. Five research projects have been chosen…

Combining the approved medication Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) with targeted therapy using a patient’s own immune cells may eventually be a promising way of treating multiple sclerosis (MS), according to recent research. The targeted therapy uses tolerogenic dendritic cells (tolDCs), which are being tested in clinical trials, to make…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who better adhere to an at-home therapy regimen with the PoNS device — which provides electrical stimulation to the brain and is approved for use in combination with physical rehabilitation — may experience greater improvements in walking function. That’s according to early data…

SetPoint Medical is planning to launch a clinical trial next year to investigate its nerve stimulator device, intending to support myelin repair, in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The announcement comes after U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of an investigational device exemption, allowing the…

Plasma exchange (PLEX) therapy is effective for severe relapses in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who respond inadequately to standard corticosteroid therapy, according to a new study conducted in Serbia. Better outcomes were seen in younger patients and in those with low disability scores at the time of…

A sublingual formulation of cladribine, which is the active ingredient of the approved oral treatment Mavenclad, in relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), showed comparable pharmacological properties to its name-brand counterpart. That’s according to preclinical data announced by BioNxt Solutions, the formulation’s developer, in a company press release.

Anti-CD20 therapies like Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and rituximab appear to be ineffective at slowing disability progression in people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), a form of the disease characterized by symptoms that steadily worsen over time, according to data from a real-world study in France. The study,…

Poltreg will receive a patent in China that covers the administration of its cell-based therapy PTG-007 for multiple sclerosis (MS) via an injection into the spinal canal, or intrathecally. The method showed superior benefits compared with PTG-007’s intravenous infusion into the bloodstream in a Phase 1b/2a study of people…

Daily treatment with high-dose simvastatin, a widely used cholesterol-lowering medication, failed to slow disability progression in adults with secondary progressive disease or SPMS, according to top-line data from a Phase 3 clinical study. Jeremy Chataway, PhD, a professor of neurology at University College London (UCL) in the U.K.,…

Sanofi’s tolebrutinib significantly delayed disability progression, by 31%, and increased the rates of disability improvement compared with a placebo in people with nonrelapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), according to new data from the HERCULES Phase 3 clinical trial. The investigational BTK inhibitor also was found to significantly…

Continuous treatment with Briumvi (ublituximab) over five years was associated with low rates of relapses and confirmed disability progression among people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to analyses from the open-label extension (OLE) phase of the treatment’s ULTIMATE Phase 3 trials. Relative to patients who…

A short course of treatment with Mavenclad (cladribine) can provide long-term reductions in disease activity and disability progression for as long as four years in adults with highly active, relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new data from the MAGNIFY-MS studies. The majority of patients had…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Ocrevus Zunovo (ocrelizumab and hyaluronidase-ocsq), a subcutaneous, or under-the-skin, formulation of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), for treating adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). The approval covers all the same indications as the original medication, including relapsing forms of MS — namely…

The pharmaceutical company Médunik Canada and Population Council, a nonprofit research organization, are teaming up to investigate the potential use of segesterone acetate, a derivative of the hormone progesterone, as a multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy. The compound is expected to promote the restoration of myelin, the…

A year of treatment with the experimental BTK inhibitor fenebrutinib was safe and nearly entirely suppressed signs of disease activity, including relapses, disability progression, and brain lesions, in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new data from the open-label extension part of a Phase…

Treatment with rituximab, a CD20 inhibitor used off-label for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, can stabilize disability progression and reduce disease activity in people with secondary progressive MS (SPMS), according to a review of several published studies. These benefits were reported over a mean follow-up of two years, and…

Treatment with the investigational BTK inhibitor tolebrutinib significantly delayed the onset of confirmed disability progression in people with nonrelapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) compared with a placebo, meeting the primary goal of the HERCULES Phase 3 trial. A preliminary analysis of liver safety was consistent with previous…

Transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS), wherein mild electrical impulses are applied to the tibial nerve located near the ankle, may help with sexual dysfunction related to multiple sclerosis (MS) in both men and women, a study suggests. The study, “Tibial nerve stimulation in the management of primary sexual…

Rituximab, which is sometimes used off-label for multiple sclerosis (MS), doubles the risk of hospital-treated infections, but may prevent worsening disability better than some approved disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), a Swedish study finds. Hospital-treated infections were significantly associated with a higher risk of relapse-independent disability worsening among relapsing-remitting…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the green light to Immpact Bio to conduct a Phase 1 clinical trial to test IMPT-514, its experimental cell therapy, in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). With the investigational new drug (IND) clearance by the FDA, Immpact Bio now…

A potential treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), arsenic trioxide (ATO) has been patented in the European Union based on findings in preclinical studies. Notice of an intent to grant patent EP18722530, titled “Method for treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis using arsenic trioxide,” was given by the European Patent…

A Phase 1 clinical trial that’s testing IMP761, an experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune conditions, has dosed its first healthy participant, the therapy’s developer has announced. Immutep received regulatory clearance to start the first-in-human trial of IMP761 in the Netherlands about a…

Indapta Therapeutics will launch a Phase 1 clinical trial in the U.S. in the second half of 2024 to explore its cell-based therapy IDP-023 in people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The announcement follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) clearance of the company’s investigational…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other conditions who use Mallinckrodt‘s treatment Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection) now have a self-injection option, the company said. Acthar Gel Single-Dose Pre-filled SelfJect is available in two dosages — 40 USP units/0.5 ml and 80 USP units/1.0 mL — that…

PIPE-307, an experimental oral therapy that’s currently in Phase 2 testing for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), was shown to promote myelin repair in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS). The preclinical findings were published in PNAS, in the study “Targeting the muscarinic M1 receptor…