MS and Demyelinating Disorders

The director of the Rocco Ortenzio Neuroimaging Center at Kessler Foundation shared insight on the abilities functional MRI have provided researchers and how it has made an impact on the testing of interventions for a number of neurologic conditions.

PML incidence in a cohort of more than 6000 patients have decreased by 23% each year since risk guidelines and new serologic testing were introduced.

Based on datasets from 2 national registries and the European Interferon Beta Pregnancy Registry, the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has given a positive opinion to remove the contraindications, which would allow the Biogen agents to be used by pregnant and breastfeeding women with multiple sclerosis.

Neurology News Network for the week ending September 21, 2019.

The neurologist at the National MS Center and University Hospital, in Brussels, spoke to the decision-making process when treating women with MS who seek to get pregnant, or who are planning a family.

The professor and senior physician in the department of clinical neuroscience at the Karolinska Institutet discussed the evolving understanding of the blood-brain barrier in MS, and what might still be left to uncover.

Mallinckrodt’s repository corticotropin injection was shown to have a lower cost per patient response compared to other late-line treatments for multiple sclerosis relapses, costing an estimated $148,528 less per response.

The GeNeuro agent showed marked reductions in brain atrophy in the thalamus and cerebral cortex through a long-term extension period treating patients with multiple sclerosis.

The 1st Annual Congress on the Future of Neurology will take place September 27-28, 2019 at the InterContinental New York Times Square in New York City.

The professor and senior physician in the department of clinical neuroscience at the Karolinska Institutet spoke to the aspects of MS—such as brain volume loss—which are not currently being addressed by the available disease-modifying therapies.

According to new data from STRIVE, 75.4% of those treated with natalizumab achieved overall No Evidence of Disease Activity status by year 4, and no patients had incidence of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.

Neurology News Network for the week ending September 14, 2019.

After showing significant benefits in delayed disease progression in patients with secondary progressive MS, new data suggests siponimod can delay the time to wheelchair dependence by 4 years.

Nearly 87% of patients enrolled in the phase 3b CASTING study had no evidence of disease activity following treatment with ocrelizumab after having an inadequate response to prior DMTs.

The global head of neuroimmunology at Genentech spoke about the wealth of data being presented on its anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody ocrelizumab, as well as the success thus far in trials of its NMOSD agent, satralizumab.

Study coauthor and professor of neurology and ophthalmology at the University of Colorado provides insight into phase 3 study results of satralizumab, presented at ECTRIMS 2019.

The professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health discussed what might be an optimal dose of vitamin D supplementation in MS, and how vitamin D deficiency should be addressed as a modifiable risk factor.

New phase 3 data from the OPTIMUM head-to-head trial show that 20-mg ponesimod resulted in a significantly lower annualized relapse rate in adults with multiple sclerosis compared to 14-mg teriflunomide at 108 weeks.

The humanized monoclonal antibody was particularly effective in patients who were seropositive for aquaporin-4 autoantibodies.

New decade-long data have suggested that multiple sclerosis treatment with dimethyl fumarate is associated with stable EDSS scores ≤3, and a low number of patients with confirmed disability progression.

The clinical research director of the UCSF Multiple Sclerosis Center discusses recent data on siponimod and its impact on cognitive measures in patients with secondary progressive MS, as well as results of the 3-arm ASSESS study comparing low-dose fingolimod and glatiramer acetate.

New data from clinical trials of ocrelizumab showed that the anti-CD20+ B cell therapy lowered serum NfL levels, and that the NfL levels offered prognostic value for disease progression in MS.

Data from the phase 3 SUNBEAM trial of the sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor modulator have suggested that the Celgene treatment lowers annualized relapse rates and reduces the rate of cortical gray matter loss, improving cognition measures, compared to IFN-ß1a.

The guidelines recommend that patients with MS receive their recommended vaccines, including that for yearly influenza. Additionally, they noted that no evidence exists that suggests vaccination increases the risk of MS exacerbation.

Neurology News Network for the week ending September 7, 2019.

Novartis’ CD20+ B cell- targeting, fully-human antibody has outperformed teriflunomide (Aubagio) in a pair of phase 3 studies. The top-line data were presented at ECTRIMS 2019 in Stockholm, Sweden.

The senior vice president for research at the Kessler Foundation discussed the need for physicians to keep cognitive problems on their mind when treating patients with multiple sclerosis, and the importance of using objective assessments.

The use of the central vein sign resulted in a sensitivity of 68.1% and a specificity of 82.9% in distinguishing cases of MS on 3T MRI in a recent cross-sectional study.

The clinical research director of the University of California, San Fransciso’s Multiple Sclerosis Center discussed the findings of a 230-patient study of inebilizumab versus placebo in NMOSD.

The senior vice president for research at the Kessler Foundation detailed the current recommendations for cognitive screening in patients with MS, and appealed to clinicians to make the time for these symptoms in MS.