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VANCOUVER — Natalizumab (Tysabri) didn’t slow disability progression in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), researchers reported here.
The ASCEND trial missed its primary endpoint of reducing progression as measured by a composite endpoint assessing disability unrelated to relapses, Deborah Steiner, MD, of Biogen, reported during the emerging science session at the American Academy of Neurology meeting here.
“There’s a striking contrast between the lack of effect on ambulatory function as measured by the timed 25-foot walk test, and the effects on upper extremity function as measured by the 9-hole peg test,” she said.
There are currently no approved therapies for primary progressive or secondary progressive MS — although data reported here on ocrelizumab, an investigational B-cell targeting therapy by Roche/Genentech, suggested the drug has some efficacy in primary progressive disease.
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