The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has formed a multidisciplinary team, including physicians, nurses, rehabilitation specialists, cognitive researchers, mental-health professionals, and patient advocates to improve overall patient outcomes. The group of experts reviewed current guidelines and evidence, gaps in care, and developed a “measurement set” for multiple sclerosis.

Experts from member organizations of the Multiple Sclerosis Coalition (MSC), including the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA), collaborated to develop and write a paper summarizing the current evidence that supports the FDA-approved disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for the long-term treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).

On August 15, 2014, Biogen Idec announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved Plegridy™ (peginterferon beta-1a) for the long-term treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Manufactured by Biogen Idec, this new medication is the 11th disease-modifying therapy (DMT) to be approved for MS since the early 1990s. Plegridy is given once every two weeks through a subcutaneous self-injection.

The largest and most comprehensive meeting on multiple sclerosis (MS) care and research in North America took place May 28 through May 31 in Dallas, Texas, combining the 28th Annual Meeting of CMSC and the 19th Annual Meeting of ACTRIMS. This is the sixth year both organizations have met together to bring researchers and clinicians from across the spectrum of MS care to share and discuss the latest research findings in MS.

The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) is pleased to announce that the newly published About MS booklet is now available as both a printed and online publication. MSAA’s About MS: An Overview of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Including Symptoms, Treatments, and Research offers an overview of multiple sclerosis including history, process and symptoms, types of MS, possible causes, diagnosing and evaluating disease activity, relapse management, and FDA-approved disease-modifying treatments. Also included are highlights of some of MSAA’s programs and services available to the MS community.

The American Academy of Neurology’s (AAN’s) 66th Annual Meeting took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania April 26th-May 3rd. The AAN is an association of more than 27,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals dedicated to advancing the care of individuals with neurologic disease. Every year, these professionals gather to hear the latest findings in research and treatments for neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis (MS). To follow are some important highlights.

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for Lemtrada™ (alemtuzumab), a proposed treatment for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). This application was recently resubmitted after the FDA did not approve Lemtrada in late December 2013, when Genzyme stated that they had received a Complete Response Letter from the FDA. This letter informed them that the application for their drug was “not ready for approval.”