Jeffrey Cohen, MD

“What was interesting about [the Kenneth P. Johnson Memorial Lecture and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Barancik Award Presentation and Talk] is that they emphasized novel interactions between the immune system and the myelin-forming cells. Dr. [Benjamin] Segal talked about some novel leukocyte populations—some immune cell populations that are involved not only in the damage that’s caused by MS, but also in stimulating the repair that naturally happens.”

Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2021

 included a variety of presentations and talks focused on the meeting’s theme of the “Spectrum of Multiple Sclerosis” (MS). This was very prevalent in the 2 opening talks: the Kenneth P. Johnson Memorial Lecture, delivered this year by 

, and the National MS Society Barancik Award Presentation and Talk, delivered by Dwight E. Bergles, PhD.

For ACTRIMS president Jeffrey Cohen, MD, these talks were very reflective of the state of the science in MS research and a few novel bits of information. Segal focused on the understanding of progressive MS and the role that immune cells play in disease progression and repair, while Bergles spent time on the interactions that oligodendrocytes have with the immune system and the axons. Both, ultimately, displaying the new understandings that are being researched in MS currently.

Additionally, Cohen, who is also the director of the Mellen Center for MS Treatment and Research at Cleveland Clinic, shared his thoughts on the impact of COVID-19 with 

 in this interview. He spoke to the COVID-themed presentations given in the Cutting Edge sessions, and how the virus affected the normal relaying of phase 2 and 3 clinical trial data at this year’s meeting.

For more coverage of ACTRIMS Forum 2021, 

Videos

The president of the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in MS shared his perspective on the impact of COVID and the top talks at the ACTRIMS Forum 2021.

The COVID Focus and the Top Talks at ACTRIMS 2021: Jeffrey Cohen, MD

“We put on the large, combined meeting with ECTRIMS in the fall—MS Virtual 2020—so we learned a lot of lessons from that.”

For a year now, medical organizations and societies around the world have been forced to shift to a virtual format for their annual meetings, adjusting from the normal ebbs and flows on the exhibit hall floors to an all-digital, on-demand style. For the major multiple sclerosis (MS) groups like the 

Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS)

 and its Forum 2021, this was no different.

This year’s meeting ran from February 25-27, with a theme focused on the spectrum of MS, and was granted a distinct advantage regarding its planning, as Jeffrey Cohen, MD, president, ACTRIMS, and director, Mellen Center for MS Treatment and Research, Cleveland Clinic, told 

. Specifically, ACTRIMS had fortunately already in-part run a virtual meeting—the joint meeting with its European counterpart, ECTRIMS. Conversely, the 2020 meeting was one of the final in-person conferences of the year.

In this interview, Cohen offers his perspective on the forum in this new format. He shared his thoughts the impact of missing the personal interactions that are so vital to the experience, such as hallway conversations and discussions over coffee, and how ACTRIMS tried to re-create those experiences. Additionally, he spoke to what he envisions the future of the ACTRIMS Forum to look like as future meetings take on a hybrid nature.

The president of the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in MS discusses his takeaways from this year’s virtual forum.

ACTRIMS 2021 Post-Conference Expert Perspective: Jeffrey Cohen, MD

“Another way their selectivity may help is that in patients with comorbidities—pre-existing heart disease, for example&mdash;we may feel somewhat more comfortable using these medications.”

While the approval of fingolimod (Gilenya; Novartis) almost a decade ago was welcomed as the first of its class for multiple sclerosis (MS), further research identified the need for more selective sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) modulators due to adverse event (AE) monitoring needs associated with fingolimod. Since its approval, 2 more agents—siponimod (Mayzent; Novartis) and ozanimod (Zeposia; Bristol Myers Squibb)&mdash;have entered the market and another&mdash;ponesimod (Janssen)&mdash;is currently before the 

One such advantage that these more selective agents offer is that they allow for easier use in patients with comorbidities, which can encompass a large percentage of the MS patient population. Jeffrey Cohen, MD, director, Mellen Center for MS Treatment and Research, Cleveland Clinic, noted that additionally, while it is not clear if there are advantages in improving symptoms associated with MS, such as fatigue, it does seem that these agents do not worsen them.

, Cohen explained how often these oral agents are turned to in the treatment of patients with MS, as well as what benefits these selective S1P modulators offer clinicians who utilize them as first- or second-line therapies.

The director of the Mellen Center for MS Treatment and Research at Cleveland Clinic discussed the benefit that physicians and patients can be provided by highly selective S1P modulators in MS treatment.

Jeffrey Cohen, MD: The Advantages of More Selective S1P Modulators

“The hope was that by developing more selective S1P modulators, that we would maintain the efficacy of fingolimod but avoid some of the off-target adverse effects.”

Over the last few decades, the pipeline of therapies developed for multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment that have successfully navigated the path to regulatory approval. One such class of medications is the sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) modulators, the first member of which to be approved was fingolimod (Gilenya; Novartis), which doubled as the first oral agent for the disease.

Over the years, the continued study of fingolimod has allowed for the identification of the need for more selective agents, in part due to the cardiac monitoring of patients that is required with fingolimod. Since then, 2 more agents—siponimod (Mayzent; Novartis) and ozanimod (Zeposia; Bristol Myers Squibb)&mdash;have entered the market and another&mdash;ponesimod (Janssen)&mdash;is before the 

FDA in the form of a new drug application

, Jeffrey Cohen, MD, director, Mellen Center for MS Treatment and Research, Cleveland Clinic, explained how the class has been developed to this point, and offered a look at how the S1P modulator class differs in mechanism of action from the other available agents in the MS treatment arsenal. 

The director of the Mellen Center for MS Treatment and Research at Cleveland Clinic spoke to the development of the sphingosine-1-phosphate modulator class in MS treatment.

Jeffrey Cohen, MD

Articles

The COVID Focus and the Top Talks at ACTRIMS 2021: Jeffrey Cohen, MD

ACTRIMS 2021 Post-Conference Expert Perspective: Jeffrey Cohen, MD

Jeffrey Cohen, MD: The Advantages of More Selective S1P Modulators

Jeffrey Cohen, MD: S1P Modulator Development in Multiple Sclerosis