Ocrevus will help with multiple sclerosis

The first drug for the treatment of severe multiple sclerosis has been approved

Anna Stavina, XX2 century

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the drug Ocrevus (Ocrevus, ocrelizumab) for the treatment of patients with severe progressive multiple sclerosis. 

Previously, these patients had no effective ways to combat the debilitating disease. 

"Okrevus" was also approved for use in patients with remitting-relapsing, the most common and not so painful form of the disease.

1,656 patients participated in clinical trials of the drug's effectiveness in the recurrent form of multiple sclerosis. Against the background of taking Okrevus, the frequency of exacerbations in them turned out to be 47% less than the same indicator in the group of patients who received the already approved drug Rebif (Rebif). In another study, which included 732 patients with progressive multiple sclerosis, the risk of disease progression in the group receiving Ocrevus was 24% lower than in the placebo group.

Ocrelizumab (ocrelizumab, the active substance of the drug "Ocrevus") affects the B-lymphocytes of patients. Normally, these cells, which are part of the immune system, help fight infections. However, with multiple sclerosis, they begin to attack the nervous system, damaging it and turning out to be one of the causes of the appearance of characteristic symptoms of the disease: paralysis and cognitive impairment.

"I think this is very important," says the head of the Department of Neurology at the University of California at San Francisco (University of California, San Francisco) Dr. Stephen Hauser, who also headed the working committee that supervised the last phases of clinical trials of the new drug. "The improvements we have seen in patients with all forms of multiple sclerosis while taking ocrelizumab are simply staggering."

Okrevus is manufactured by Genentech, owned by the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche. The drug proved to be most effective in patients with recurrent multiple sclerosis. Apparently, in such patients, "Ocrevus" can stop the progression of the disease – with a relatively small number of serious side effects. In patients with a more severe form of the disease, primarily progressive, the drug only modestly slows down the development of the disease. However, experts called even such an effect an "important first step."

The price of an annual course of treatment with Okrevus will be about $ 65,000, which is 25% less than Rebif therapy. In the company's statement Genentech noted that the prices of drugs used to combat multiple sclerosis have increased significantly in recent years. The relatively low price of "Okrevus", according to the company Genentech, should change this trend.

Although there are several treatment options available to patients with a remitting-relapsing form of multiple sclerosis today, taking the most effective drugs is often accompanied by serious side effects. Therefore, doctors prefer not to prescribe these drugs until the disease reaches its late stages. "Okrevus" is relatively safe: against the background of its use, mainly local reactions were noted at the injection site (an injection of okrelizumab is given 1 time every 6 months) and an increase in the risk of developing colds.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  30.03.2017