A bit of promising news... (Oral drug and not an immunosuppressive)
AB Science OK’d to Start Masitinib Phase 3 Trial for Progressive MS
“We are very excited to initiate this confirmatory phase III study with masitinib in progressive forms of multiple sclerosis,” Patrick Vermersch, MD, PhD, the trial’s principal investigator, said in a press release. He is a professor of neurology at the University of Lille, France.
While progressive forms of the disease “currently account for approximately 50% of MS cases,” Vermersch said, “the vast majority of treatments … apply mainly to the relapsing remitting forms of the disease.”
Masitinib is an oral medication that works by blocking tyrosine kinase, an enzyme essential for the activity of innate immune cells — such as mast cells, microglia, and macrophages — which are thought to drive neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in progressive MS.
“Furthermore, masitinib is not an immunosuppressive treatment, which is particularly important in MS patients who need to receive long-term treatment and who, in certain cases, already have a weakened immune system due to previous treatments or because of their age,” added Hermine, who is also a member of the French Academy of Sciences.
Full article:
AB Science OK'd to Start Masitinib Phase 3 Trial in Progressive MS (multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com)
AB Science OK’d to Start Masitinib Phase 3 Trial for Progressive MS
“We are very excited to initiate this confirmatory phase III study with masitinib in progressive forms of multiple sclerosis,” Patrick Vermersch, MD, PhD, the trial’s principal investigator, said in a press release. He is a professor of neurology at the University of Lille, France.
While progressive forms of the disease “currently account for approximately 50% of MS cases,” Vermersch said, “the vast majority of treatments … apply mainly to the relapsing remitting forms of the disease.”
Masitinib is an oral medication that works by blocking tyrosine kinase, an enzyme essential for the activity of innate immune cells — such as mast cells, microglia, and macrophages — which are thought to drive neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in progressive MS.
“Furthermore, masitinib is not an immunosuppressive treatment, which is particularly important in MS patients who need to receive long-term treatment and who, in certain cases, already have a weakened immune system due to previous treatments or because of their age,” added Hermine, who is also a member of the French Academy of Sciences.
Full article:
AB Science OK'd to Start Masitinib Phase 3 Trial in Progressive MS (multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com)
Comment