Category Archives: MS Treatment

Two years after New Brunswick decided to help multiple sclerosis patients pay for an unproven treatment that's only offered outside the country, the number of patients who have sought the so-called liberation treatment has fallen short of expectations. A leading authority on MS says he's not surprised the numbers are falling off. The Finance Department says since April 1, 2011, 82 people who wanted the treatment that widens constricted veins in the neck have been approved for payments of $2,500 each. Applicants get the government funding if a community group raises matching funds. The provincial government budgeted $400,000 for the program in its first two years of operation or enough to help 160 people seek the treatment. The government approved 25 applications in the first four months the money was available, but interest has tapered off and there have been no applications in the last two months. It's getting fewer and fewer because every month a negative study is coming out," said Dr. Jock Murray, a neurologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Italian vascular specialist Paolo Zamboni reported dramatic improvements in his patients after he pioneered the procedure, but Murray said none of the subsequent studies done around the world … Continue reading →

FREDERICTON - Two years after New Brunswick decided to help multiple sclerosis patients pay for an unproven treatment that's only offered outside the country, the number of patients who have sought the so-called liberation treatment has fallen short of expectations. A leading authority on MS says he's not surprised the numbers are falling off. The Finance Department says since April 1, 2011, 82 people who wanted the treatment that widens constricted veins in the neck have been approved for payments of $2,500 each. Applicants get the government funding if a community group raises matching funds. The provincial government budgeted $400,000 for the program in its first two years of operation or enough to help 160 people seek the treatment. The government approved 25 applications in the first four months the money was available, but interest has tapered off and there have been no applications in the last two months. "It's getting fewer and fewer because every month a negative study is coming out," said Dr. Jock Murray, a neurologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Italian vascular specialist Paolo Zamboni reported dramatic improvements in his patients after he pioneered the procedure, but Murray said none of the subsequent studies done around … Continue reading →

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Genzyme, a Sanofi Company (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY), announced today interim results from the first year of the extension study of LEMTRADA (alemtuzumab), being developed for the treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). In this analysis of the first year of the extension study, relapse rates and sustained accumulation of disability remained low among patients who had previously received LEMTRADA in either of the Phase III CARE-MS I and CARE-MS II studies. In these pivotal studies, LEMTRADA was given as two annual courses, at the start of the study and 12 months later. More than 80 percent of patients did not receive further treatment with LEMTRADA during the first year of the extension study. These findings are important because they suggest that the benefits of LEMTRADA as observed in the Phase III studies are maintained, even though most patients did not receive further dosing, said Edward Fox, M.D., Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic of Central Texas, who presented the study results today at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in San Diego, Calif. Extension Study Results The Phase III trials of LEMTRADA were randomized, two-year pivotal studies comparing treatment with LEMTRADA to Rebif … Continue reading →

Sanofi wins backing for multiple sclerosis tablet. Photograph: Reuters Sanofi won backing from a European advisory panel for its first multiple sclerosis therapy, the tablet Aubagio, a step forward in the French drugmaker's plan to grab a slice of the $14 billion MS business. Aubagio, a once-daily pill, was recommended for treatment of relapsing forms of the debilitating disease by the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, the London-based agency said today. The committee decided that the medicine's key ingredient, known as teriflunomide, couldn't be considered as a new active substance, the EMA said. The decision not to grant new active substance status to Aubagio "isn't likely to have much of an impact", Vincent Meunier, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas in Paris, who has a buy recommendation on the stock, said. "The one risk is that a company decides to work on a generic version of the medicine, but Aubagio isn't a huge product for Sanofi." Sanofi won US backing to sell the tablet in September. The company has been building up an MS business since its 2011 purchase of the US biotech company Genzyme, which gave it access to Lemtrada, another experimental treatment for … Continue reading →

Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. Mostly it strikes between the ages of 20 and 40, but can be exhibited at any age. More women have the disease than men, and it may have a genetic connection. Health officials think it may be related to a virus that lies dormant in cells. MS is caused by damage to the myelin sheath, the protective covering that surrounds nerve cells. When covering is damaged, nerve signals slow down or stop. Nerve damage is caused by inflammation that occurs when the bodys immune cells attack the nervous system. This can occur along any area of the brain, optic nerve and spinal cord. Scar tissue develops where the myelin is damaged and this is what disrupts nerve messages. Symptoms may abate ,and remissions last for months or years. More damage is done with each episode. No cure has been found, but therapies can slow the diseases progress. Treatment can control symptoms. Treatments include drugs to reduce muscle spasms and urinary problems; antidepressants and drugs to reduce fatigue. Diagnosing MS often is a tedious process of eliminating other possibilities. A CT scan and an MRI may help physicians decide … Continue reading →

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff A panel that advises European regulators has issued a positive opinion on a multiple sclerosis drug candidate from Biogen Idec Inc. A Weston company known for such MS drugs as Avonex and Tysabri, Biogen Idec said in a Friday press release that it has received a positive opinion on its MS drug candidate Tecfidera from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP. The CHMP is recommending that European Union regulators grant market authorization for Tecfidera as a first-line oral treatment for adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. A decision on Tecfidera by the US Food and Drug Administration is expected shortly. We believe Tecfidera will raise expectations for what people living with MS can achieve with their therapy, Biogen Idec chief executive George A. Scangos said in a statement. Earlier this week, Biogen Idec announced that the US Patent Office had granted it broad protection for Tecfidera. Avonex is typically injected once a week. Tysabi is generally taken by infusion once a month. And Tecfidera is envisioned as a capsule that patients would take twice a day. Meanwhile, Genzyme, now a Cambridge-based unit of French drug maker Sanofi SA, also said that the … Continue reading →

(Reuters) - Biogen Idec Inc said on Wednesday its experimental multiple sclerosis drug peginterferon beta-1a reduced the annual relapse rate of patients with multiple sclerosis by 36 percent when dosed once every two weeks. The company, which presented its results at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting, said the drug reduced the proportion of patients who relapsed by 39 percent compared with patients who took a placebo. Peginterferon beta-1a, which will be marketed, if approved, under the brand name Plegridy, is an injectable drug designed to reduce the dosing schedule of standard interferon drugs such as Biogen's own Avonex, which are typically dosed at least once a week. In addition to Avonex, Biogen makes the MS drug Tysabri, which is widely considered the most effective on the market but has been linked with a potentially deadly brain infection known as PML. The company is also poised to launch a new MS drug, Tecfidera, a pill that many analysts believe could become the leading treatment for the disease. The company hopes that Plegridy will provide an option for patients seeking a less frequent dosing schedule. Biogen said the drug reduced the risk of 12-week disability progression by 38 percent compared … Continue reading →

by Angela King / KING 5 News KING5.com Posted on March 15, 2013 at 8:27 AM Updated Friday, Mar 15 at 8:41 AM Scientists at Swedish Medical Center are working on a treatment that could repair the damage caused by multiple sclerosis. MS is a disease that causes the immune system to attack the central nervous system. Patients can suffer a number of symptoms including numbness, blurred vision, or even paralysis. But researchers at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute are working on a new drug that could reverse these disabilities. "We realized that if we were able to stop the disease completely, we'd still have a lot of people with a lot of disabilities, so the ability to repair the damage would be a big move forward," said Dr. James Bowen from Swedish. Washington has some of the highest rates of MS in the country and North America. No one knows exactly why, or what causes the disease. While most patients are diagnosed between 20 and 50 years old, there's a growing number of juvenile cases. The Swedish Neuroscience Institute is currently conducting 24 research studies on MS. The local scientists also helped study and test two new oral medications that … Continue reading →

Editor's Choice Main Category: Multiple Sclerosis Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience;Clinical Trials / Drug Trials Article Date: 21 Mar 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for: Excellent Results For MS Drug "Plegridy" MS is a an autoimmune disease in which the immune system begins to attack the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). Symptoms include weakness, inability to move arms or legs, loss of balance, and numbness. Plegridy is a member of the interferon class of drugs, which are often used as first line treatment for MS. It works by extending the half-life and exposure of interferon beta-1a in the body. According to a previous study, published in the Archives of Neurology, interferon treatment is able to achieve and sustain a response as measured by regular magnetic resonance imaging evaluations. The results, which were presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting, revealed that in comparison to placebo, Pledigry reduced the annual relapse of patients with multiple sclerosis by 36 percent and reduced the proportion of patients who relapsed by 39 percent. The Phase 3 ADVANCE clinical trial was a two-year-long study which aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Plegridy in more than 1,516 … Continue reading →

A clinical trial test of a vein-opening procedure for multiple sclerosis suggests it does not improve symptoms, and in a few patients symptoms worsened. The small pilot study was designed to test the safety and effectiveness of using balloons to unblock veins in the neck and chest of people with MS. Chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency or CCSVI is a hypothesis put forward by Italian vascular surgeon Dr. Paolo Zamboni. He suspects that narrowed neck veins create a backup of blood that can lead to lesions in the brain and inflammation. On Friday, researchers at the University of Buffalo discussed the findings of their clinical trial involving 10 MS patients in an initial safety trial of the real and fake procedures and 20 who were randomized to receive treatment or a placebo. "All the outcomes that we looked at which had to do with clinical disease, functional status, quality of life, cognition there was no appreciable difference between the two arms," principal investigator Dr. Adnan Siddiqui, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of Buffalo, said in an interview. When the investigators reviewed the MRI data, Siddiqu said they found new activity in patients who received the balloon angioplasty treatment. … Continue reading →