The MS Wire

News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

Category: Drugs

Starting Down the Lemtrada Road

[This is an updated version of my column that first appeared on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com] The final drip of my first week of Lemtrada infusions will drop in about 30 minutes.  The headline is: It was a good week with no significant problems or discomfort.  I’ll be writing about this experience, in detail, in my next column.  But first, for those who aren’t yet up to speed on my journey, some background.…Continue Reading

A Letter to a Scared Young Woman

(This first appeared as my column on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com) Dear Lauren Parrott, I know you’re scared.  The fears that you shared in your video blog ring true to any of us who have faced the unknowns of a new MS medicine. I’ve been there. I’ve gone through three major multiple sclerosis drugs over the 35+ years that I’ve been fighting MS.  I was a subject in the clinical trial of Avonex;…Continue Reading

Lemtrada: Is this MS Drug HSCT “Lite?”

(This is an updated version of my column that appeared earlier this month on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com) My neurologist calls Lemtrada “HSCT lite.”  She says that not only is the drug able to reduce exacerbations and limit the overall progression of Multiple Sclerosis, it’s actually reversed some symptoms in some of her patients.   I guess I’m going to find out if she’s right about Lemtrada because I’m getting ready to start…Continue Reading

Copaxon MS drug approved for tri-weekly use in Canada

It’s no fun jabbing yourself once-a-day if you’re using the multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone.  I, eventually, hit a brick wall self-injecting when I was using Avonex and that was just sticking myself once-a-week. But now Teva Pharmaceutical has what should be good news for Canadians using Copaxone.  Health Canada has approved a three-times-a-week version of the drug. Three-times-a-week Copaxome 40 mg/mL is expected to become available to patients there, by…Continue Reading

Tecfidera TV ad gets yanked

Have you seen the TV ad for Tecfidera?  The one that shows a woman being able to do all sorts of active things because she’s on the drug, which has reduced the frequency of her Multiple Sclerosis exacerbations? I was surprised when I saw it on my screen one day.  Frankly, I didn’t think there was enough of an audience of potential Tecfidera users to justify the cost of this…Continue Reading

MS drug maker getting new top guy

Biogen

If you have Multiple Sclerosis the chances are good that you’ve used, or will use, a drug made by Biogen.  The biophamaceutical company makes Avonex, Tysabri, Tecfidera, Fampya, Plegridy and Zinbryta to treat MS.  I’ve used two of them myself and participated in the double-blind study for Avonex, way back when. Now, Biogen’s Chief Executive Officer, George Scangos, has announced that he’s leaving.  What will that mean to those of…Continue Reading

When should you start using a DMT?

A friend of mine was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis about fifteen years ago.  She’s been very stable since her DX without being on any disease modifying drugs. But, we’ve both wondered if she should be proactive and start using using Avonex, Betaseron, Copaxone, Tysabri or another of the many disease modifying therapies that are available today.  So far, her neurologist has suggested that my friend hold off. I’ve lived with…Continue Reading

Disappointing results in Biogen MS drug trial

It had been hoped that Biogen’s experimental drug opicinumab would be able to repair mylin.  As those of us who live with Multiple Sclerosis know all too well, mylin is sort of an insulator to our nerves. MS destroys mylin and, in doing so, short circuits our nervous system. Biogen announced today that Phase 2 of its opicinumab trial, named SYNERGY, failed to meet its primary goal of improving physical…Continue Reading

FDA OKs Monthly Multiple Sclerosis Drug: Zinbryta

There’s now a once-a-month injection for treating relapsing multiple sclerosis. The drug is called Zinbryta (daclizumab) and it was just approved by the Food and Drug Administration.  Zinbryta is self-administered subcutaneously, which means using needles that are shorter than the ones that are used for drugs, such as Avonex, which are administered into the muscle. Clinical data, reported by Zinbryta’s manufacturer, Biogen, shows Zinbryta significantly reduced relapses and brain lesions…Continue Reading

Good Test Results for Primary-Progressive MS Drug Ocrelizumab

My neurologist tells me “the buzz is good” about ocrelizumab. The investing web site Motley Fool calls it “the revolutionary Multiple Sclerosis drug you’ve never heard of.” Ocrelizumab, which Genentech hopes to market under the name Ocrevus, is special because it’s designed to treat primary-progressive, as well as relapsing-remitting, MS. How does it work? I’m not a scientist, but after reading a lot of scientific writing here’s my best attempt to…Continue Reading