The MS Wire

News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

Category: Drugs

A choice of shot or infusion for Ocrevus users

ocrevus zunovo vial

A 10-minute injection or a two-hour infusion? Which would you prefer to treat your multiple sclerosis (MS)? That choice is now available, following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Ocrevus Zunovo in mid-September. The treatment combines Genentech’s very popular Ocrevus with ocrelizumab with a drug delivery system called Enhanze. Ocrevus, according to Genentech, has been used to treat more than 350,000 people with MS (PwMS) since it was…Continue Reading

Can this CAR-T therapy help people with MS?

Woman with fingers crossed hoping for CART-T MS therapy success.

My fingers are crossed. Again. IMPT-514, an experimental cell therapy produced by ImmPACT Bio, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for phase 1 multiple sclerosis (MS) trials. I hope this treatment might be the next big thing for people with MS, but I know from experience that’s far from certain. IMPT-514 is a bispecific chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, designed to ease MS symptoms…Continue Reading

Does modafinil help when MS makes me tired?

Tired man head on desk.

The author describes his struggles with fatigue, cognitive fog, and stress exacerbated by multiple sclerosis (MS) and his wife’s recent back surgery. He juggles various caregiving tasks, while battling severe fatigue. He discusses mixed results of the medication modafinil, used to alleviate MS fatigue, noting personal experiences and varying research findings on its effectiveness.

Is it time to end your MS DMT?

Yes/no sign for DMT age decision

Is there a time when multiple sclerosis (MS) is finished attacking the nervous system – when it just “burns out” and there’s no longer any need to continue using a disease-modifying therapy (DMT)? A 2017 review by researchers at the University of British Columbia notes that disease activity declines as people with MS grow older. It suggests that those who are 55 years or older and have had no relapses,…Continue Reading

A better bladder means better sleep

Bladder incontinence

I slept through the night last night. Recently, I’ve managed to do that on most nights. No 4 a.m. bathroom trips for me! That’s a big deal. There was a time when I’d get up two or even three times during the night for a bladder run. Sleeping seven or eight hours straight is huge. I’ve been troubled by bladder frequency and urgency for many years during the four decades…Continue Reading

Will Tyruko save MS patients money? Maybe.

money

The late August approval of Tyruko (natalizumab-sztn) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is big news in the multiple sclerosis world. Tyruko is a biosimilar for Tysabri (natalizumab), and it’s the first biosimilar to gain FDA approval as an MS disease-modifying therapy (DMT). “Tyruko has the potential to extend the reach of natalizumab treatment for [MS] patients, increase healthcare savings and fuel innovation through competition in the market,” Keren…Continue Reading

Pills the most popular for 1st MS treatment

Pills

Times, they’ve been a-changin’ for disease-modifying therapies. When I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1980, there were no DMTs. The first, the injectable Betaseron (interferon beta-1b), was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1993 for relapsing-remitting MS. A few years later, I was thrilled to be included in the Phase 3 clinical trial of Avonex (interferon beta-1a), the second injectable, even though it required a self-injection…Continue Reading

New lower-dose MRI contrast agent used on first patient

mri machine

If you have multiple sclerosis, I’m sure you’ve had several MRIs by now. You’ve probably also had one using a contrast agent. That contrast agent is made from a rare earth element called gadolinium. Mixed with other chemical ions, it highlights lesions or areas of active MS inflammation that would otherwise be difficult or impossible for a radiologist to see. It’s a useful tool, but there have been concerns about…Continue Reading

Briumvi, a New MS Treatment, Could Improve Life Quality

briumvi vial

The multiple sclerosis treatment arsenal has gained a new weapon. Shortly after Christmas, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Briumvi (ublituximab), joining a small group of disease-modifying therapies that aim to halt MS progression by knocking out certain B-cells in the immune system. Why does Briumvi target B-cells? B-cells remember past threats to the immune system so that invaders, like viruses, can be stopped quickly. But some B-cells, carrying…Continue Reading

A Shark Bites into Prescription Costs

Shark bites into prescription costs

My multiple sclerosis prescriptions cost me a lot, even with good insurance. Your prescription costs are probably also high, no matter what your illness is, if you don’t live in a country where the government picks up your drug costs. But now billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is taking a shark-sized bite out of the cost of some of those medications. Cuban is an investor who regularly appears on the “Shark…Continue Reading