The Potential of Targeting Anti-CD3 in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: Tanuja Chitnis, MD

WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

"We’ve also been doing nose and throat evaluations every 3 weeks and those have all been normal, which is heartening. The patient feels stable and somewhat improved, and we’ve seen that his motor scores, [and] pyramidal scores have improved on treatment, so we’re encouraged by that. He’s received over 6 months of treatment and is doing well.”

As there is need for medications in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), investigators have turned to targeting a new pathway using anti-CD3 therapy. A new case study, led by Tanuja Chitnis, MD, evaluated the effects of nasal foralumab (Tiziana Life Sciences), a fully human anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, in a patient with nonactive secondary progressive MS. The 61-year-old man had been diagnosed for over 20 years and continued to progress while on ocrelizumab (Ocrevus; Genentech), the only FDA-approved therapeutic for this patient population.

Treatment with foralumab was initiated in May 2021 and was continued for 6 months with a 7-week washout period after 3 months. Presented at the 2022 Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) Annual Meeting, June 1-4, in National Harbor, Maryland, the patient showed no adverse reactions, local irritation, or laboratory abnormalities in response to treatment. Additionally, symptom progression subsided, the patient felt more stable, and demonstrated stabilized or improved scores on several measures, including Expanded Disability Status Scale score.¹

To learn more about the findings, including some of the more fine-tuned details of the patient experience, NeurologyLive^® sat down with Chitnis. The associate neurologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School explained the origin and potential of anti-CD3 therapy, along with the phase 1 findings that sparked the research interest.

Click here for more coverage of CMSC 2022.

REFERENCE
1. Chitnis T, Singhal T, Zurawski J, et al. Nasal anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (foralumab) reduces PET microglial activation and blood inflammatory biomarkers in a patient with non-active secondary progressive MS. Presented at: CMSC Annual Meeting, 2022; June 1-4; National Harbor, MD. LB