By David Orange and Timothy Vollmer, MD, FAAN
Several new medications are emerging for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), including five orally-administered drugs. Many of… »
Other Posts
Osteoporosis and Physical Activity Among NARCOMS ParticipantsIntroduction Osteoporosis is a bone disease causing thinning of the bones. Osteoporosis increases the risk of fractures... »
Emerging Medications for Multiple SclerosisBy David Orange and Timothy Vollmer, MD, FAAN
Several new medications are emerging for the treatment of multiple
... »
News Alerts
Actor Henry Winkler Joins Team of National Patient Advocacy Groups and Allergan to Launch “Open Arms: Raising Awareness of Upper Limb Spasticity” Educational Campaign
To address the low awareness and under-diagnosis of upper limb spasticity, Allergan, Inc. has joined forces with Henry Winkler and a coalition of five national patient advocacy organizations, including National Stroke Association, Brain Injury Association of America, National Spinal Cord Injury Association, United Cerebral Palsy and United Spinal Association, to launch the “Open Arms: Raising… »
Two Kinds of Multiple Sclerosis
Source: Stanford School of Medicine (http://med.stanford.edu)
By Bruce Goldman, Science Writer, Office of Communication & Public Affairs–Stanford University School of Medicine
There may be two distinct versions of multiple sclerosis, a study in both animal models and human blood samples suggests. What’s more, a patient’s responsiveness to the most popular first-line drug for this episodic and all-too-often… »
Copaxone 15-Year Study in Patients With MS
Source: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. recently announced the publication of data from the 15-year clinical study with Copaxone® (glatiramer acetate injection), which is the longest prospective and continuous evaluation ever conducted in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients. The data were published in the February issue of the journal Multiple Sclerosis.
The 15-year clinical… »
Acorda Announces FDA Approval for Oral Treatment to Improve Walking
Source: Acorda Therapeutics, Inc.
Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. announced that it has received marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for AMPYRA™ (dalfampridine), an oral treatment to improve walking in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This was demonstrated by an increase in walking speed. AMPYRA demonstrated efficacy in people with all four major types… »
iPhone Application Designed for Multiple Sclerosis Patients
Source: Elite Circle Computing, LLC
A Pennsylvania-based company has just released a healthcare management application that targets multiple sclerosis (MS) patients to the App Store.
David Warden, who was diagnosed with MS in 2008, created an application called i-Inject that allows fellow patients to manage details of their healthcare. The application provides a place for users to… »
FDA Denies Application for New MS Pill
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has denied the New Drug Application (NDA) for Cladribine Tablets, EMD Serono’s proprietary investigational oral medication to treat the relapsing-remitting form of multiple sclerosis (MS).
“The company will work closely with the FDA to fully understand FDA’s concerns and define a path forward for a successful resubmission of this application… »
Leading MS Lifestyle Empowerment Organization Changes Name
Can Do Multiple Sclerosis is the new name of the nation’s leading provider of lifestyle empowerment programs for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and their support partners, announced Kim Sharkey, CEO, Can Do MS.
Formerly The Heuga Center for Multiple Sclerosis, Can Do MS conducted months of research, assessments, planning and strategic development to position its… »
CMSC Examines Self-Management in MS
HACKENSACK, N.J., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ — The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) released a white paper, written by a panel chaired by CMSC member Robert T. Fraser, PhD, of the University of Washington Rehabilitation Research and Training Center in Seattle, Washington, analyzing patient self-management in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) to develop recommendations for best practices… »
Positive Vote by FDA Advisory Committee for Fampridine-SR
Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. recently announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs (PCNSD) Advisory Committee voted 12 to 1 that clinical data on Fampridine-SR 10 mg twice daily demonstrated substantial evidence of effectiveness as a treatment to improve walking in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and voted 10 to… »
Study Shows Novartis Reduces Relapses and Disability
Source: Novartis Press Release, http://www.novartis.com.
Initial results from the two-year Phase III FREEDOMS study show that oral FTY720 (fingolimod) was significantly superior to placebo in reducing both relapses and disability progression in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS)[1] - one of the leading causes of neurological disability in young adults.
The FREEDOMS study met its primary and… »
Tysabri Link to Fatal Brain Disease? Don’t Jump to Conclusions
During a recent Morgan Stanley healthcare conference, Biogen Idec Inc., who along with Elan Corp. co-market the multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Tysabri, said it would be premature to conclude that the risk of developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) increases the longer patients use the drug.
There has been 13 confirmed cases of PML, a rare and… »
Opexa Reports Additional Favorable Data with Tovaxin® for MS
Source: Opexa Therapeutics Press Release
Opexa Therapeutics, Inc., a company developing Tovaxin®, a personalized T-cell immunotherapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), recently announced results from further analysis of the double-blind, placebo-controlled, 52-week Phase IIb TERMS clinical study of 150 patients with Relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). This analysis evaluated patients with an annualized relapse rate of one or greater… »
New Data on Paralysis Could Impact Future Treatment Strategies
By Tom Scott
Sufficient information on the prevalence of Americans living with paralysis and spinal cord injuries (SCI) has always been hard to come by. Most information cited in educational literature and on many Web sites regarding paralysis and SCI is extremely outdated. This presents numerous hurdles in devising new or evaluating existing policies, programs, and… »
Endogenous Retroviral Genes, Herpes Viruses and Gender in MS
A French group’s report of unexpected findings on endogenous retroviral elements expressed in cells from patients with MS appears to open a new avenue of research, after years of research dedicated to understanding the biological significance of retroviruses in human health and disease.
Human endogenous retroviral family W (HERV-W) RNA present in circulating viral… »
FDA Approves Extavia for Treatment of RRMS
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Extavia® (interferon beta-1b), the first in a new planned portfolio of multiple sclerosis (MS) medicines from Novartis to help patients manage this disease.
Extavia is approved by the FDA for the treatment of relapsing forms of MS to reduce the frequency of clinical exacerbations. The therapy… »
New Bill Submitted in the Senate to Reduce and Cap Soaring Out-Of-Pocket Drug Costs
A new bill submitted to the Senate aims to reduce and cap monthly out-of-pocket costs for medications. This has the potential to save people with Multiple Sclerosis up to $6,600 on their disease-modifying… »
Merck KGaA Submits Application for Cladribine Tablets as Multiple Sclerosis Therapy in Europe
Source:Merck KGaA
Merck KGaA recently announced the submission of a marketing authorization application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) for Cladribine Tablets, Merck’s proprietary investigational oral formulation of cladribine, as a therapy for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). Cladribine Tablets could become the first orally administered disease-modifying therapy available for patients with MS, as… »
Technology Collaborative Launches Online Game to Exercise Brain Power of People with Multiple Sclerosis
People with Multiple Sclerosis can now exercise brain power online with MyBrainGames, a free suite of accessible online cognitive games specifically designed for the MS community…. »
Biogen Reports New PML Case in Tysabri Patient
Biogen Idec. Inc. recently reported the 13th confirmed case of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in a patient taking the company’s drug Tysabri. PML is a rare and often fatal viral disease that is characterized by progressive damage or inflammation of the white matter of the brain at multiple locations.
According to reports, the patient with… »
Genzyme Completes Transaction with Bayer HealthCare
Source: Genzyme Press Release
Assumes Primary Responsibility for Alemtuzumab in Multiple Sclerosis; Expands Hematologic Oncology Portfolio
Genzyme Corp. (Nasdaq: GENZ) recently announced that it has completed the transaction with Bayer HealthCare to acquire the worldwide rights to Campath®/MabCampath® (alemtuzumab), giving Genzyme primary responsibility for the development and commercialization of this promising multiple sclerosis (MS) therapeutic candidate. Genzyme… »
