The cure for Multiple Sclerosis has also perplexed scientists ever since it has mysteriously emerged and apparently affected millions of people. The recently published data from three large, international, multicenter Phase 3 trials of Ocrevus also known as ocrelizumab has shown that the investigational drug has the ability of doing what no other therapy has achieved so far which is working to prevent disease in both relapsing and primary progressive (PP) forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) respectively.
Multiple Sclerosis Cure Offers New Hope For New Treatment Approach
According to reports revealed by Bioscience Technology, experts have noted that in cases of multiple sclerosis, the immune system itself attacks the body, which then makes it into a so-called autoimmune disease. Currently, it was found that all MS drugs have targeted the immune system's T cells. However, the investigational research on Ocrelizumab finds that it actually depletes the populations of the immune system's B cells.
Furthermore, as per Multiple Sclerosis News Today, it was found that in the case of relapsing MS, the trials has shown that treatment with Ocrevus, a B-cell depleting drug, was superior to treatment with Rebif (interferon beta-1a), with a 46 percent and 47 percent relative reduction in the annualized relapse rate in the two trials. Stephen Hauser, MD, chair of the Scientific Steering Committee of the OPERA studies, director of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences and chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco has revealed that when it comes to the consistency of these pioneering data, the effect seen in these clinical studies and the favorable safety profile may support treating MS earlier with a high-efficacy disease-modifying medicine.
Ultimately, Hauser has highly emphasized that in the two identical trials (OPERA I and OPERA II) studies, ocrelizumab has consistently and significantly reduced disease activity and the progression of the disability as compared with a standard-of-care high-dose interferon demonstrating a favorable safety profile at the same time. Thus, he adds that the data obtained from the study may support in treating MS at the onset of the disease with a high-efficacy, disease-modifying medicine.
