Merck's Cladribine Tablets For Multiple Sclerosis Approved In Australia
Merck KGaA announced that the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved Cladribine Tablets for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS)(1). Cladribine Tablets will be registered in Australia under the trade name Movectro®...
Driving Simulator To Be Tested On Multiple Sclerosis Patients
The Medical College of Georgia has received a one-year grant to determine the usefulness of using a simulator-based driving training program to improve fitness-to-drive in multiple sclerosis patients. Fifty participants, recruited for the study through the MCG Multiple Sclerosis Center, will receive driving training at the MCG Driving Simulation Laboratory under the direction of Dr...
Most Neurologists Plan To Prescribe Oral Multiple Sclerosis Drugs, But Will Proceed With Caution
In a study published this week by Majestic Research, almost 60% of neurologists expressed unaided concern about the side effects/safety of oral MS therapies in development, including NVS's Gilenia and MRK/EMD Serono's oral cladribine...
Government Of Canada Accepts Recommendations On MS Research
The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, accepted the recommendations on Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research recently presented to her by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) President Dr. Alain Beaudet. These recommendations are based on a thorough review of the current state of science conducted at an August 26, 2010, meeting of leading North American MS experts...
Donation By Author J K Rowling Aids Multiple Sclerosis Research In The UK
A research clinic for multiple sclerosis patients is being set up with a 10 million pound donation from the author J K Rowling. The Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic at the University of Edinburgh will place patients at the heart of research to improve outcomes for multiple sclerosis sufferers...
CIHR Makes Recommendations On Canadian MS Research Priorities
On Thursday, August 26, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), in collaboration with the MS Society of Canada, convened a meeting of leading North American experts in multiple sclerosis (MS) to identify research priorities for Canada in this area. Yesterday, at a press conference in Ottawa, CIHR President Dr...
Multiple Sclerosis Research Clinic Being Set Up With A £10 Million Donation From The Author J K Rowling
The Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic will place patients at the heart of research to improve outcomes for multiple sclerosis sufferers. This will focus on patient-based studies to help find treatments that could slow progression of the disease, working towards the eventual aim of stopping and reversing it...
Multiple Sclerosis Activity Changes With The Seasons
New research shows that multiple sclerosis (MS) activity can increase during spring and summer months. The research is published in the August 31, 2010, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology...
MS Activity Varies With The Seasons
A new US study that compared brain scans of people with multiple sclerosis to weather data over a two year period found that disease activity varied with the seasons, with spring and summer months showing predominantly the highest rates of activity, but with increased temperature and solar activity also showing a strong link...
Society Of Interventional Radiology Supports Research For New M.S. Treatments
Recognizing that venous interventions may potentially play an important role in treating some patients who suffer from multiple sclerosis -- an incurable, disabling disease -- the Society of Interventional Radiology has issued a position statement indicating its support for high-quality clinical research to determine the safety and effectiveness of interventional M.S. treatments...
Preliminary Data In Support Of Investigational Anti-JCV Antibody Assay Published In The Annals Of Neurology
Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) and Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE: ELN) announced data has been published in the Annals of Neurology on an investigational, two-step assay to detect anti-JC virus (JCV) antibodies in human serum and plasma. This assay is currently being evaluated in clinical studies as a potential tool for risk stratification in TYSABRI® (natalizumab)-treated patients...
Over 200 Genes Influenced By Vitamin D, Highlighting Links To Disease
The extent to which vitamin D deficiency may increase susceptibility to a wide range of diseases is dramatically highlighted in research just published. Scientists have mapped the points at which vitamin D interacts with our DNA - and identified over two hundred genes that it directly influences. The results are published in the journal Genome Research...
PTP-PEST Discovery By Dr. Andre Veillette's Team Could Impact The Treatment Of Autoimmune Diseases
The internationally-renowned scientific journal Immunity, from the Cell Press group, published online recently, and will publish in its August 27 print issue, the results of a study conducted by a team of researchers led by Dr. Andre Veillette, Director of the Molecular Oncology research unit at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montreal (IRCM)...
Brain Trauma In Sports May Cause A New Disease That Mimics ALS
The Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE) at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have announced that they have provided the first pathological evidence that repetitive head trauma experienced in collision sports is associated with motor neuron disease, a neurological condition that affects voluntary muscle movements...
TAU Develops Genetically Mutated Stem Cells For Myelin Research
Vanishing White Matter (VWM) disease is a devastating condition that involves the destruction of brain myelin due to a mutation in a central factor. To understand the disease and test potential treatments that could apply to other disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, Prof...
Eighty-Three Percent Of Surveyed Neurologists Are Familiar With Emerging MS Agents
Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that 83 percent of surveyed physicians are familiar with Merck Serono/EMD Serono's oral cladribine and Novartis/Mitsubishi Tanabe's FTY-720/fingolimod/Gilenia (when all three names are surveyed) among the surveyed oral emerging therapies for the treatment o...
Merck KGaA, FDA Grants Priority Review To Cladribine Tablets For The Treatment Of Relapsing Forms Of Multiple Sclerosis
Merck KGaA announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing the New Drug Application (NDA) for Cladribine Tablets as a therapy for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The application also has been granted a Priority Review designation by the FDA, which means the review period for the NDA is reduced...
Levels And Efficacy Of A Marijuana-Like Substance In The Brain Controlled By Newly Discovered Mechanism
A newly discovered molecular mechanism helps control the amount and effectiveness of a substance that mimics an active ingredient in marijuana, but that is produced by the body's own nerve cells. The results were reported in the latest Nature Neuroscience. The lead author on the study is William R. Marrs of the Neurobiology and Behavior program at the University of Washington (UW)...
EMD Serono, Inc, FDA Grants Priority Review To Cladribine Tablets For The Treatment Of Relapsing Forms Of MS
EMD Serono, Inc., an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing the New Drug Application (NDA) for Cladribine Tablets as a therapy for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The application also has been granted a Priority Review designation by the FDA, which means the review period for the NDA is reduced...
FDA Advisory Committee Unanimously Recommends Approval Of Novartis Investigational Treatment FTY720 To Treat Relapsing Remitting MS
An advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended approval of FTY720 (fingolimod) for the treatment of patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis, the most common form of the disease. The FDA has the option of seeking the advice of one of its advisory committees as it reviews and decides whether to approve a new treatment...
MS Trial Alert: Investigators Recruiting Globally For Phase II Study Of Oral ACT-128800
Investigators are recruiting 400 people with relapsing-remitting MS for a study evaluating three doses of ACT-128800, an oral compound that affects immune function, versus placebo. The study sponsor is Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. Rationale: Multiple sclerosis involves an immune system attack on the brain and spinal cord...
Study Questions Alternative Theory For How MS Arises
Researchers at Umea University in Sweden have performed a study that indicates that neither blood flow nor the flow of spinal fluid in the brain contribute to the development of multiple sclerosis, MS. The findings run directly counter to a much-discussed and widely spread Italian theory. The Umea scientists are not alone in calling into question the findings of the Italian research team...
Report Shows Prescribing Levels For MS Drugs In The UK Among The Lowest In The World
As a report names the UK as one of the worst developed countries in the world in terms of access to MS drugs, the MS Society is calling for an urgent update of the clinical guidelines for MS. The Department of Health published a report this week that showed that the UK ranked 13 out of 14 developed countries for use of MS drugs...
New Studies Question Vascular Multiple Sclerosis Hypothesis And Treatment
Two important new studies challenge the controversial hypothesis that venous congestion - chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) - contributes to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS). This theory has resulted in many MS patients receiving experimental endovascular angioplasty, a treatment for MS unproven by clinical trials...
Treating Multiple Sclerosis With Antihypertensive Drug
Researchers in Heidelberg and Stanford have discovered a new signalling pathway of brain cells that explains how widely used antihypertensive drugs could keep inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS) in check. The peptide angiotensin not only raises blood pressure but also activates the immunological messenger substance TGF beta on a previously unknown communication pathway in the brain...