Luc Truyen, MD, PhD

"I don’t think we have enough data on hand to start tailoring specific regimens for specific subsets in an emerging field where all is not created equal.”

The multiple sclerosis (MS) community has benefitted over the last few years from an influx of FDA-approved therapeutic treatment options, as well as a better growing understanding of how to diagnose the disease and which mechanisms needed to target. New treatments have helped reduce the long-term disability of the disease, but there still remains no cure or clear ways to prevent the disease from developing.

There are currently about 2.8 million individuals worldwide that live with MS, making it the leading cause of nontraumatic neurological disability. Additionally, there are a number of different types of MS, each with differing timetables of disease progression. While our knowledge of the disease has certainly grown, there are areas that still need further examination, according to Luc Truyen, MD, PhD.

, February 25-27, Truyen, the global head of Development and External Affairs-Neuroscience at Janssen Pharmaceutical, sat down with 

to provide a brief summary of the knowledge gained on the disease in the past decade and where it needs to continue to grow.

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The global head of Development and External Affairs-Neuroscience at Janssen Pharmaceutical detailed the areas research has grown in MS and areas that still need more examination.

Growing Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Knowledge: Luc Truyen, MD, PhD

"In the S1P class, the effects are that it starts rapidly, but they also stop rapidly. Within 1 week, lymphocytes are back to normal.”

, the 8th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meeting, September 11-13, 2020, revealed that 

 20 mg resulted in consistently low levels of disease activity across relevant clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcomes in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). The results of the study add to the already robust profile of ponesimod, which has shown efficacy against FDA-approved teriflunomide (Aubagio; Sanofi) in previous phase 3 studies.

Ponesimod, a selective sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor-1 (S1P) modulator, is designed to inhibit S1P protein activity, and in doing so, is believed to reduce the number of circulating lymphocytes that can cross the blood-brain barrier. Luc Truyen, MD, PhD, global head, Development and External Affairs-Neuroscience, Janssen Pharmaceutical, feels as though ponesimod’s design stands out among other MS treatments.

The MS treatment landscape has undergone a number of additions in the past decade and ponesimod could be the next one with its new drug application which was filed in March 2020. Truyen sat down with 

 to discuss the positives of a robust MS treatment landscape and why ponesimod stands above the rest.

The global head of Development and External Affairs-Neuroscience at Janssen Pharmaceutical detailed what makes ponesimod different from other currently FDA-approved treatments. 

Luc Truyen, MD, PhD: Advantages of Ponesimod as an S1P Modulator

"Today, which is 8 and a half years after we started this, there is still 197 patients on ponesimod 20-mg. To me, as a clinician, that talks to the long-term safety and tolerability of ponesimod very eloquently.”

Ponesimod (Janssen Pharmaceutical), a selective sphingosine 1-phosphase receptor-1 (S1P) modulator, has shown previous success in phase 3 studies, most notably in OPTIMUM (NCT02425644). A new phase 2b core study and its extension looked at the long-term effects of ponesimod in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) across a median exposure of 8.02 years.

, the 8th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meeting, September 11–13, 2020, showed that treatment with ponesimod 20-mg resulted in consistently low levels of disease activity across relevant clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcomes, including lowered annualized relapse rates (ARRs) and confirmed disability accumulation (CDA). To understand more about the results and the impact this study has, 

Truyen, global head, Development and External Affairs-Neuroscience, Janssen Pharmacuetical, provided more context of the phase 2b study and its extension, as well as why the data is clinically meaningful.

The global head of Development and External Affairs-Neuroscience at Janssen Pharmaceutical discussed the results of a phase 2 core and extension study of ponesimod in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. 

Luc Truyen, MD, PhD

Articles

Growing Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Knowledge: Luc Truyen, MD, PhD

Luc Truyen, MD, PhD: Advantages of Ponesimod as an S1P Modulator

Luc Truyen, MD, PhD: Long-Term Results of Ponesimod in Phase 2b Study