Multiple Sclerosis News and Research

Latest Multiple Sclerosis News and Research

Medicare payment issues raise questions, concerns

Medicare payment issues including rising costs, caps on physical therapy and other outpatient services for some patients are in the news.

8 Mar 2010

MS Awareness Week: Time for nation to go orange and move it to end MS

MS Awareness Week March 8-14 is the time for the nation to go orange and move it to end multiple sclerosis, a disease where someone is newly diagnosed every hour of every day. Supported by a Congressional resolution, this year MS Awareness Week and the state of MS research aptly coincide. Move it to create a world free of MS!

8 Mar 2010

Scientists identify the role of vitamin D in activation of T cells

Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have discovered that Vitamin D is crucial to activating our immune defenses and that without sufficient intake of the vitamin, the killer cells of the immune system - T cells - will not be able to react to and fight off serious infections in the body.

8 Mar 2010

NAF to hold third annual Ataxia Investigators Meeting in Rosemont

The National Ataxia Foundation, in conjunction with the University of Chicago program in pathobiology and translational neuroscience, will hold its third annual Ataxia Investigators Meeting March 9-11, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, in Rosemont, Ill. A three-day meeting for patients, caregivers and families will follow at the same location.

6 Mar 2010

Peptimmune granted US patent for PI-2301 peptide copolymer in treatment of multiple sclerosis

Peptimmune, Inc. a privately held biotechnology company, announced today the grant of US Patent Number 7,655,221 (the '221 patent) which protects the target product profile for its PI-2301 peptide copolymer for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, and other autoimmune diseases.

6 Mar 2010

Thymosin beta 4 improves neurological functional outcome

REGENERX BIOPHARMACEUTICALS, INC. announced that a research team from the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI reported that Thymosin beta 4 (Tβ4), administered to rats one day after embolic stroke, improved neurological functional outcome compared to control animals.

6 Mar 2010

Opexa Therapeutics reports net loss of $1,433,922 for year ended December 31, 2009

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc., a company developing Tovaxin®, a novel T-cell therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), today reported financial results for the year ended December 31, 2009 and provided an update on its progress.

5 Mar 2010

2010 Federal Budget lacks substantive funding in support of heart health initiatives: HSF concerned

The Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF) is concerned with the lack of any substantive funding in support of heart health initiatives as outlined in today's 2010 Federal Budget.

5 Mar 2010

Data evaluating safety, efficacy of STELARA and REMICADE in patients with plaque psoriasis to be presented

Data evaluating the efficacy and safety of STELARA™ (ustekinumab) and REMICADE® (infliximab) in patients with plaque psoriasis who had an inadequate response to Enbrel® (etanercept) will be presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) in Miami, Fla., from March 5-9, 2010.

5 Mar 2010

Risk of MS increases by many folds following infection with EBV: Study

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and a team of collaborators have observed for the first time that the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) increases by many folds following infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).

5 Mar 2010

Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy to help patients obtain financial assistance to purchase life-saving drugs

Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy, the nation's largest privately held specialty pharmacy company, is on a mission to help patients obtain the financial assistance they need to purchase life-saving drugs for such illnesses as cancer, HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, as well as drugs for Multiple Sclerosis, kidney disease and other chronic conditions.

4 Mar 2010

Severe inflammatory diseases: Blocking "death messenger" might be a promising treatment

The signaling molecule CD95L, known as "death messenger," causes an inflammatory process in injured tissue after spinal cord injuries and prevents its healing. This discovery was published by scientists of the German Cancer Research Center. In mice, the researchers found out that if they switch off CD95L, the injured spinal cord heals and the animals regain better ability to move. Therefore, substances which block the death messenger might offer a new approach in the treatment of severe inflammatory diseases.

4 Mar 2010

AARDA report examining current state of AD released at the National Autoimmune Diseases Summit

A groundbreaking new report from the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, examining the current state of autoimmune disease (AD) and its economic and social impact globally and in the U.S., was released today at the National Autoimmune Diseases Summit: The Global State of Autoimmunity Today, held to kick-off National Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month.

4 Mar 2010

Study indicates ocular shingles may increase stroke risk

Having a shingles infection that affects the eyes may increase the risk of stroke, according to new research published in the March 3, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

4 Mar 2010

Informative workshop on multiple sclerosis

Physicians, nurses, and physician assistants in the Portland, Oregon, area who treat and care for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are invited to attend "Recognizing and Treating Multiple Sclerosis in the Primary Care Setting," an informative free CME/CE half-day lecture and workshop.

3 Mar 2010

Clot-busting drug therapy after stroke beneficial for women

New research shows women who don't receive a clot-busting drug after a stroke fare worse than men who are not treated. The study is published in the March 2, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

2 Mar 2010

febit releases updated Geniom Biochip containing 58 new miRNA sequences

febit today announced that an updated version of the company's Geniom Biochip containing 58 new discovered sequences in addition to all of the Homo sapiens microRNAs (miRNA) from miRBase version 14 is now available for cancer research. The 58 new miRNA sequences were found by deep sequencing in a miRNA discovery study performed on an Applied Biosystems SOLiD 3 sequencing system. All 58 miRNAs have been validated using the ABI TaqMan miRNA qRT-PCR assay and are now available for further studies using febit's microarray technology for miRNA-profiling.

2 Mar 2010

GTC Biotherapeutics achieves high-level production of TG20 monoclonal antibody

GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc. announced that it has achieved high-level production of TG20; an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (MAb). The TG20 MAb, which is produced in the milk of transgenic goats, is being co-developed by GTC and LFB as part of the LFB-GTC joint venture.

2 Mar 2010

Acorda Therapeutics' AMPYRA now available in the U.S. and Puerto Rico

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that AMPYRA™ (dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10 mg is now available by prescription in the United States and Puerto Rico. AMPYRA was approved on January 22, 2010 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment to improve walking in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This was demonstrated by an increase in walking speed. AMPYRA is indicated for use in all types of MS, and can be used either alone or with existing therapies, including disease-modifying agents.

1 Mar 2010

Cause of multiple sclerosis: Researchers test autoimmune hypothesis

A non-pathogenic bacterium is capable to trigger an autoimmune disease similar to the multiple sclerosis in the mouse, the model animal which helps to explain how human diseases work. This is what a group of researchers from the Catholic University of Rome, led by Francesco Ria (Institute of General Pathology) and Giovanni Delogu (Institute of Microbiology), have explained for the first time in a recently published article on the Journal of Immunology.

26 Feb 2010