• GeNeuro-Servier Antibody Limits RRMS Patients’ Brain Shrinkage, Phase 2b Trial Shows

The laboratory-generated antibody GNbAC1 continued to limit brain shrinkage a year after relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients began receiving it, its developers announced.

GeNeuro and Servier were reporting on the 12-month results of a Phase 2b clinical trial.

GNbAC1 is a monoclonal antibody that destroys a harmful retroviral protein called pHERV-W which scientists have linked to brain lesions in MS patients. Lesions are areas where the myelin coating that protects nerve cells has deteriorated.

The Phase 2b CHANGE-MS trial (NCT02782858), conducted in 12 European countries, involved 270 RRMS patients. Researchers randomized them to receive the antibody or a placebo once a month by intravenous infusion.

GeNeuro and Servier said a year’s worth of GNbAC1 led to much brain loss among MS patients than a regimen consisting of six months of a placebo and six months of the antibody. The difference in brain atrophy was 31 percent in the brain’s cortical area and 72 percent in the thalamic areas.