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Haunted by Tysabri, but looking ahead to MS drugs of the future

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Two drugs generating considerable excitement -- and headlines -- today for their potential to treat multiple sclerosis are but a couple in the pipeline. With Tysabri haunting discussion of the medications, this is especially worth noting,

Granted, the drugs seem promising and they have the potential to become the first oral treatment for the condition. But they too have the potential for side effects. And no one wants a repeat of the on-the-market/off-the-market Tysabri affair.

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(A quick headline history of that medication: Biogen-Idec wins FDA approval for MS drug; Patient’s death halts new MS drug; Sales of drug for MS resume.)

One of the drugs, Cladribine, is an existing medication and the subject of a New England Journal of Medicine study, as a Booster Shots post noted Wednesday. (More on Cladribine and Tysabri from drugs.com.) The other, fingolimod, is new -- and the subject of two other studies in that same journal. The first compared it to a placebo. The second compared it to intramuscular interferon.

A related editorial in the journal poses the questions: ‘How do these therapies measure up against the existing treatments? Are all the longer-term adverse effects known? What do these drug trials tell us about multiple sclerosis and our treatment goals?’

So we always look ahead. The Multiple Sclerosis Society offers a list of the 129 clinical trials that relate to multiple sclerosis. Some of the potential treatments are already being tested, some just finished testing, and some of the tests are still in the planning stages.

The site also offers MS trial alerts and other clinical trial sites.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke offers this primer: Multiple sclerosis: Hope through research

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Among the ‘where we stand’ explanation is this: ‘The role of genetic risk factors, and how they can be modified, must be more clearly defined. Environmental triggers, such as viruses or toxins, need to be investigated further. The specific cellular and subcellular targets of immune attack in the brain and spinal cord, and the subsets of T cells involved in that attack, need to be identified. Knowledge of these aspects of the disease will enable scientists to develop new methods for halting--or reversing and repairing--the destruction of myelin that causes the symptoms of MS.’

The research isn’t fast enough for anyone’s liking, of course, but it is ongoing.

-- Tami Dennis

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