"We've been banging on a wall with a bunch of drugs, and we finally put a big crack in the wall," said Dr. Jerry Wolinsky, professor emeritus at the University of Texas in Houston. Wolinsky was a lead author on a study in January showing that the drug, ocrelizumab, slowed the decline in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is a neurological disease that affects hundreds of thousands of people, mostly women, in the United States. The disease scars nerve tissue and causes a range of symptoms, from vision problems to paralysis. While the most common form of the disease gets better and worse over time, about 10% to 15% of patients have a form known as primary progressive, which gets slowly worse over time. There had been no approved drugs for this variation until now. "The drug is so much more effective at shutting down inflammation," said Dr. David Hafler, a multiple sclerosis researcher and the chair of neurology at Yale School of Medicine. Hafler has studied the drug but was not involved in the trials leading up to the FDA approval. He does not receive consulting fees from the drug's manufacturer, Genentech, but his lab has … Continue reading →

March 29, 2017 by Nina Bai An MRI scan of a person with multiple sclerosis shows bright spots, which are MS plaques. Credit: NIH A newly approved drug that is the first to reflect the current scientific understanding of multiple sclerosis (MS) is holding new hope for the hundreds of thousands Americans living with the disease. It also highlights the importance of clinician-scientists like UC San Francisco's Stephen Hauser, MD, who are working to transform research into cures for patients. The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved ocrelizumab (brand name Ocrevus) to treat both relapsing-remitting MS and primary progressive MS, the first time a therapy has been available for severe forms of the disease. The drug, the first that targets B cells in the human body, grew out of the work of Hauser, chair of neurology at UCSF, whose team persevered for decades in elucidating the science behind MS, defending findings that contradicted long-standing assumptions and translating the science into a therapy. A Devastating Disease In MS, the immune system attacks the protective myelin covering around nerve cells, stripping them like insulation from electrical wires. We now know, thanks in large part to Hauser and his colleagues, that immune … Continue reading →

OMRF's Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence treats more than 2,500 patients who suffer from MS and provides diagnosis, treatment, physical therapy and clinical trials. OKLAHOMA CITY On Saturday, March 18, more than 100 multiple sclerosis patients and their support partners from across Oklahoma and five other states attended a Can Do Multiple Sclerosis JUMPSTART Program at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. OMRFs Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence treats more than 2,500 patients who suffer from MS and provides diagnosis, treatment, physical therapy and clinical trials. The JUMPSTART program was held in collaboration with Can Do MS out of Avon, Colo., and the National MS Society. Can Do MS connects the expertise of industry professionals from across the field of MS care management, including neurologists, psychologists, occupational and physical therapists, speech and language pathologists, registered nurses, physicians and nutritionists. We believe knowledge is power, especially when dealing with chronic conditions such as multiple sclerosis, said OMRF neurologist Tania Reyna, M.D., who welcomed patients, their families and caregivers to the all-day event. These types of programs are conducive for learning, and we are particularly pleased to see the interaction of the support partners, which is an important component of patient care. Participants … Continue reading →