NeurologyLive® Year in Review 2022: Top Stories in Multiple Sclerosis

In 2022, the NeurologyLive^® staff was a busy bunch, covering clinical news and data readouts from around the world across a number of key neurology subspecialty areas. From major study publications and FDA decisions to societal conference sessions and expert interviews, the team spent all year bringing the latest information to the website's front page.

Among our key focus areas is multiple sclerosis, a field that saw a number of therapeutic hopefuls move through the pipeline in the past 12 months, as well as a vast amount of data related to COVID-19 vaccination and novel biomarkers. Although major news items often appear among the top pieces our team produces, sometimes smaller stories reach those heights for other reasons—clinical impact and interest, or concerns about the small- or big-picture parts of care, for example. Whatever the reason for the attention these stories got, their place here helps provide an understanding of the themes in this field over the course of 2022.

Here, we'll highlight some of the most-read content on NeurologyLive^® this year. Click the buttons to read further into these stories.

1. Third BNT162b2 COVID-19 Vaccine Dose Revives Humoral Response in MS Among Those Treated With Ocrelizumab, Fingolimod

New data presented at the 2022 European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis Congress by Rocco Capuano, MD, et al suggest that among patients with multiple sclerosis treated with ocrelizumab (Ocrevus; Genentech) or fingolimod (Gilenya; Novartis), a humoral response can be revived with the administration of a third booster dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 vaccine.

2. Ofatumumab Shows Long-term Safety and Efficacy, Does Not Restrict COVID-19 Vaccine Immune Response

New safety data from the ongoing, open-label, umbrella extension ALITHIOS trial (NCT03650114) and the phase 3 ASCLEPIOS I/II trials (NCT02792218 and NCT02792231) of ofatumumab (Kesimpta; Novartis) in patients with multiple sclerosis presented by Stephen L. Hauser, MD, at the 2022 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, suggest that the therapy is well-tolerated with long-term use, showing no new safety signals.

3. Multiple Sclerosis DMT Waste Is Staggering, New Study Shows

A newly published study in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders by Darin T. Okuda, MD, and colleagues looking into waste associated with disease-modifying therapies found that, in a single-center effort over the course 1-year, the commercial value of retrieved unused therapies amounted to more than $5 million.

4. Cladribine Shows Long-Term Efficacy in Delaying MS Conversion, Favorable Efficacy Compared With Other Oral DMTs

Data from the phase 4 CLASSIC-MS study (NCT03961204) presented by Gavin Giovannoni, MBBCh, PhD, at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis Forum 2022, suggest that patients who experienced a first clinical demyelinating event and were treated with cladribine (Mavenclad; EMD Serono) over a median 9.5 years of follow-up since last dose experienced long-term sustained efficacy, delayed conversion to clinically definite multiple sclerosis, and fewer second relapses compared with nontreated patients.

5. Herpes Simplex Virus Types Not Associated With Increased Risk of Multiple Sclerosis

Data from a cross-sectional, single-center, cohort study showed a significantly higher presence of Epstein-Barr virus among patients with multiple sclerosis compared with controls but no difference in the frequency of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, the findings, presented at the 2022 Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers Annual Meeting by Ahmed Z. Obeidat, MD, PhD, come just months after a study of more than 10 million young adults further suggested that EBV is the leading cause of MS.

6. Evusheld Increased Attenuated SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies From MS B-Cell Depleting Medications

Findings from a single-center cohort study by William L. Conte, MD, MS, published in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders showed that all patients with multiple sclerosis who had an attenuated response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines due to B-cell depleting therapeutics developed the highest antibody response following treatment with tixagevimab/cilgavimab (Evusheld; AstraZeneca).

7. Tolerizing MS Vaccine Displays Efficacy in Model of Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

In September, Pasithea Therapeutics announced positive results from a preclinical proof-of-concept study of PAS002, its tolerizing vaccine being developed in a program for multiple sclerosis, with findings showing that the glial cell adhesion molecule found in the brain’s white matter is attacked in MS.

8. NeuroGenesis Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy Shows Positive Impact on NfL in Phase 2 Progressive MS Study

Newly published phase 2 data in Stem Cells Translational Medicine by Dimitrios Kaurussis, MD, PhD, et al showed that NeuroGenesis’ mesenchymal stem cell therapy, NG-01, significantly reduced neurofilament light in a cohort of patients with progressive multiple sclerosis—to the authors' knowledge, this was the first reported literature of changes in NfL levels following intrathecal injection of autologous MSCs.

9. BTK Inhibitor Evobrutinib Demonstrates Long-Term Safety in Open-Label Extension

Following a double-blind 48-week treatment period, evobrutinib (EMD Serono), an investigational Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor, continued to show acceptable tolerability as well as maintained efficacy over a 2.5-year period in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis, according to data presented at the 2022 Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) Annual Meeting by Anne Cross, MD.

10. Longer Periods Between Natalizumab Dosing Might Result in Increased T2 Lesion Count

Data published in Lancet Neurology by John F. Foley, MD, and colleagues from the NOVA trial (NCT03689972), a randomized controlled, open-label, phase 3b study, showed a numerical difference in the estimated number of new or newly enlarging T2 hyperintense lesions in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis treated with stable natalizumab (Tysabri; Biogen) dosing once every 6 weeks vs once every 4 weeks.