Genentech announced today that ocrelizumab, an investigational medicine for the long-term treatment of relapsing forms of MS, has also shown positive study results in their Phase III ORATORIO study with primary-progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). This is the first medication to show positive effects on disability with this form of the disease, which affects approximately 10 percent of the MS population.

On September 25, 2015, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Betaconnect, an electronic autoinjector for use with Betaseron^® (interferon beta-1b), an approved disease-modifying therapy (DMT) for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Although other autoinjectors are available to help with the administration of self-injected medications, this is the first electronic autoinjector to be approved by the FDA for a medication used in the long-term treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).

The member organizations of the Multiple Sclerosis Coalition (MSC) congratulate the House on the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act – #Cures2015. The MSC specifically applauds the inclusion of H.R. 292 as a provision of the Act, the goal of which is to establish a data system to track the incidence and prevalence of neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis.

The 29th Annual Meeting of The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) took place in late May in Indianapolis, Indiana. This meeting is the largest and most comprehensive conference on multiple sclerosis (MS) care and research in North America, bringing researchers and clinicians from across the spectrum of MS care together to share and discuss the latest research findings in MS. This multidisciplinary approach, which includes the perspectives of physicians, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, psychologists, social workers, pharmacists, rehabilitation specialists, and advocacy professionals, is unique and ensures that the impact of MS on the whole person is considered.

Positive Phase III trial results were announced yesterday (June 30, 2015) for the experimental medication ocrelizumab, a monoclonal antibody presently being studied for the treatment of different forms of MS. According to a press release issued by Genentech and its parent company Roche, ocrelizumab met both the primary and major secondary endpoints in the Phase III, OPERA I and OPERA II studies.

The United States Supreme Court has voted 6 to 3 in favor of allowing federal tax credits to be used to assist low and middle-income Americans with the cost of private health-insurance policies, purchased through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces or “exchanges.” This ruling applies to eligible individuals who live in states with their own exchanges as well as those who live in states that only offer federal exchanges.