Key Takeaways
- Ocrelizumab treatment improved perceived symptoms and fatigue in Black and Hispanic/Latino RMS patients, with notable fatigue improvement in Hispanic patients.
- Cognitive improvements were observed in Hispanic patients, while Black patients showed no significant cognitive changes.
- High rates of no evidence of disease activity (NEDA) were achieved, with significant reductions in work productivity impairment.
- Despite positive outcomes, 80.2% of participants experienced adverse events, with 5.5% facing serious adverse events.
New findings reveal ocrelizumab significantly improves symptoms, cognition, and fatigue in Black and Hispanic patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis.
Mitzi Joi Williams, MD
Newly presented data from the phase 4 CHIMES study (NCT04377555) revealed that treatment with ocrelizumab (Ocrevus; Genentech) has therapeutically beneficial impacts on perceived symptoms, cognition, and fatigue among Black and Hispanic/Latino patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS).
CHIMES, a long-standing study, tested the clinical and radiological outcomes of Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino patients with RMS, two historically underrepresented groups, on ocrelizumab, an FDA-approved medication. Presented at the 2025 Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis (CMSC) Annual Meeting, held May 28-31 in Phoenix, Arizona, the analysis comprised 182 patients, aged 18 to 65 years, with baseline Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores between 0 and 5.5. In the study, participants received 2, 300-mg ocrelizumab infusions 14 days apart and 600 mg every 24 weeks for 1 year, with an optional 3-year extension.
Led by Mitzi Joi Williams, MD, founder and chief executive officer of Joi Life Wellness Group Multiple Sclerosis Center, the main outcomes used were the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ), MS Impact Scale (MSIS-29), Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS), SymptoMScreen, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). Through 96 weeks of treatment, results showed improvements in patient symptom perceptions, specifically the Brief IPQ (–4.8 [SD, 10.7]; range, 0-80) and MSIS-29 physical (–4.8 [SD, 17.4]; range, 0-100) and psychological (–5.4 [SD, 21.7]) scores.
While the study featured more Black (62%) than Hispanic (38%) patients, results showed that fatigue was more notably improved among Hispanic patients (–4.3 [SD, 14.6]) vs –1.2 [SD, 15.7]). More encouragingly, fatigue was improved across the entire cohort, with mean changes of –2.5 (SD, 15.3; possible range, 0-84). Furthermore, SymptoMScreen fatigue scores also improved in both groups, with changes of –0.3 (SD, 1.6; possible range, 0-10) for the entire CHIMES cohort.
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