10 October, 2015
There are currently no approved disease-modifying therapies to treat progressive MS, but results from a recent Phase III trial may start shifting that landscape. In a late September press announcement by Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, the company announced that the experimental monoclonal antibody, ocrelizumab, significantly slowed progression of disability compared to placebo in a Phase III ORATORIO trial involving 732 people with primary progressive MS.
Additional data from the trial reported 10 October at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in MS (ECTRIMS) in Barcelona showed that, compared to placebo, ocrelizumab significantly reduced the risk of progression of clinical disability by 24% compared with placebo, and over 120 weeks it also reduced the time required to walk 25 feet by 29%, decreased the volume of brain lesions by 3.4%, and reduced the rate of whole brain volume loss by 17.5%. While this impact against progression was modest, this is the first large-scale clinical trial to show positive results in people with primary progressive MS.
“The results of the ocrelizumab trial in people with primary progressive MS are an encouraging development in the search for effective treatments for this disabling form of MS,” said Professor Alan Thompson, Chair of the International Progressive MS Alliance Scientific Steering Committee. “While the reported effects on progression are modest, the data clearly indicate that this treatment has potential benefit and is not only a source of hope, but also an important milestone that will further inform development for effective treatments for everyone with progressive forms of MS.”
The Alliance will continue to monitor all potential area of progress and increased understanding in order to accelerate the development of treatment for people with progressive MS.
Further reading