What’s New in MS Research – January 2026
Reviewed by MSAA Chief Medical Officer Barry A. Hendin, MD
This edition of “What’s New in MS Research” includes important findings on steps that people with MS can easily incorporate into their daily routine to combat fatigue, reduce the risk of disability progression, and – literally – take even more steps.
There is also welcome news for women with MS about the impact (or lack thereof) of menopause on disease progression, and important information for all working-aged people on how multiple sclerosis affects employment status.
The results of several clinical trials evaluating investigational and approved disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are also included in this issue. The findings from those trials range from the encouraging to the disappointing, but it’s important to remember that even studies that don’t yield the desired results provide scientists with crucial insights that can help them refine their approaches and close in on the next breakthrough.
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Healthy habits yield (at least) three benefits over five years in people with MS
A cool way for people with MS to increase their walking distance
Identifying barriers to optimal MS care: A key step in forging solutions
Norwegian study adds support to starting treatment with high-efficacy medications
Predicting risk of MS reactivation after stopping or switching disease-modifying therapy
Trio of MS medication trials yield disappointing results
Three factors predict fatigue onset over 2.5 years in people with MS
Small study suggests that caffeine may effectively treat MS fatigue
Study finds that menopause is not associated with MS progression
Study: Migraine rate in people with MS is double that of the general population
Healthy habits yield (at least) three benefits over five years in people with MS
Healthy behaviors lead to a healthy life. The statement sounds so obvious, so self-evident, that it might not seem worth mentioning. But an Australian study involving 839 people with MS suggests that the point should be mentioned, reiterated, and then repeated like a mantra.1
Researchers analyzed five years’ worth of data on study participants, looking at those people’s diet, physical activity, smoking status, vitamin D intake, and meditation practices. The study looked at three potential benefits, using validated questionnaires to assess a reduced risk of (1) fatigue, (2) depression, and (3) disability. Here’s what they found:
There was an inverse association between level of physical activity and risk for fatigue, depression, or disability. In other words, the more people move, the less likely they are to be fatigued, depressed, or significantly affected by disability. The same held true for diet: Better eating meant less risk for fatigue, depression, or disability.
- Not smoking and having adequate Vitamin D intake were each independently associated with lower rates of depression.
- Following a high-quality diet was independently associated with less disability.
- Compared to study participants who practiced no or few healthy behaviors, those with three or more healthy habits saw benefits over at least 2.5 years, while following all five healthy habits was associated with benefits over a five-year period.
While noting that further research is needed to determine the extent of the benefits they identified, the study’s authors said that their findings could help clinicians personalize comprehensive care plans. Hopefully, the findings will also provide people with MS the motivation needed to adopt healthy habits and then to do the hard work of “sticking with it.”
A cool way for people with MS to increase their walking distance
Thermosensitivity: That’s the medical term for the negative, sometimes debilitating, impact that heat (or sometimes cold) can have on people with MS. Aside from making hot summer days intolerable for many people with MS, the phenomenon can also limit those people’s ability to exercise, sapping their energy as exertion raises body temperature.
The good news, however, is that a recent study found that dialing down the temperature by wearing a cooling vest for 30 minutes prior to exercise enabled people with MS to ramp up their activity, as measured by increased ground covered on the 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) test.2
Researchers recruited 15 people with MS to participate in the study. Those individuals had a median Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score of 4, meaning that they were able to be fully ambulatory without walking aids. The investigators divided the study participants into two groups. People in the first group wore cooling vests for 30 minutes before performing the 6MWD test. They then returned one to two weeks later and repeated the test, this time without wearing the cooling vests first. The people in the second group also performed two walking-distance tests but in the opposite order: first without wearing a vest prior to walking and then wearing a vest prior to the repeat walk.
The investigators found that people in both groups walked further when they wore the cooling vests prior to performing the test. A per-minute analysis showed that most of the gains in walking distance were achieved in the fifth and sixth minutes of the test, when fatigue from exertion-generated body heat would be expected to be greatest.
Based on these findings, the study’s authors concluded, “The use of a cooling vest should be considered in walking programs for people with MS.” Beyond supporting that specific recommendation, this study highlights that practical, relatively straightforward approaches can help people with MS manage many of the obstacles they face in daily life.
[Editor’s note: MSAA’s Cooling Program provides cooling vests and accessories to individuals with MS who meet income eligibility guidelines.]
Identifying barriers to optimal MS care: A key step in forging solutions
The Multiple Sclerosis Implementation Network® (MSIN®) has authored a research poster titled: Barriers to Optimal Care for People Living with MS. MSIN, an initiative led by MSAA, is a national practice-based research network (PBRN) created to generate real-world evidence about living with and treating MS. Launched in 2023, it brings together clinical sites, clinicians, and people with MS to collect meaningful data, study everyday care, and identify what truly improves health outcomes.
This poster submission was accepted by the Middle East North Africa Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (MENACTRIMS) for its 10th Congress held December 5-6, 2025, in Dubai.
Seeking answers for what constitutes minimum adequate healthcare for individuals with MS, findings from MSIN’s two councils include key challenges such as access to a disease-modifying therapy (DMT), access to an MS specialist, integration of shared decision-making, comprehensive care, and access to routine MRI. Barriers to care noted by the MS community include delays with insurance or medical approvals, high out-of-pocket costs, and difficulty with specialist referrals or finding a neurologist, along with other challenges.
Comparing these healthcare needs with the barriers to care may help researchers determine influences into how and why some people living with MS may or may not be seeking basic treatment or care in the management of their MS.
Norwegian study adds support to starting treatment with high-efficacy medications
Clinicians often wrestle with a dilemma when prescribing a first disease-modifying therapy (DMT) for a person with MS. One option is to start with a highly effective medication in hopes of having a major impact on disease progression “right off the bat.” The concern with that approach is that higher-efficacy medications can have additional – and more significant – side effects than other DMTs. The alternative is to begin treatment with a moderate-efficacy DMT that typically has fewer and less-severe adverse effects and then escalate treatment to a higher-efficacy medication if the patient experiences progression.
A recent Norwegian study compared the two approaches by examining outcomes in 537 people with MS.3 For the study’s purposes, high-efficacy DMTs included Ocrevus® (ocrelizumab), Tysabri® (natalizumab), Lemtrada® (alemtuzumab) and stem cell transplantation. Moderate-efficacy DMTs included Aubagio® (teriflunomide), Mavenclad® (cladribine), Zeposia® (ozanimod), and Tecfidera® (dimethyl fumarate), among others.
The study’s authors assigned 324 people who initiated treatment between January 2013 and December 2017 to the escalation treatment strategy (ETS) group. While 72% of these patients began treatment with a moderate-efficacy or even low-efficacy DMT, 28% started on a high-efficacy DMT. Meanwhile, 213 people who began treatment between January 2018 and December 2020 formed the highly effective treatment strategy group (HiTS). Of the 213 people in this group, 78% began with a highly effective treatment, while 18% started on a low- or moderate-efficacy treatment. The type of initial treatment was not recorded in the remaining 4% of the people in the HiTS group.
After a median follow-up of eight years in the ETS group and four years in the HiTS group, the researchers found that, compared to people in the ETS (escalation treatment strategy) group, those in the HiTS (highly effective treatment strategy) group had a:
- 70% lower risk of having a new relapse
- 77% lower risk of having a new T2 or gadolinium-enhancing lesion on magnetic resonance imaging
- 67% lower risk of discontinuing their initial DMT
While those numbers are compelling and add to a growing body of literature supporting initiating treatment with high-efficacy medications, three important study limitations are worth noting.
First, the study’s authors assigned people to the ETS (escalation treatment strategy group) and HiTS (highly effective treatment strategy group) based on the years in which these individuals started treatment, rather than on what type of therapy they were taking. As a result, 28% of people in the ETS group were on highly effective therapies, while at least 18% of those in the HiTS group were not. This may have served to “muddy the waters” somewhat in terms of outcomes.
Second, the authors did not report on the nature, frequency, and severity of adverse effects experienced by people in the two groups. Considering that safety concerns are a significant factor in clinical decision-making and can make people hesitant to start with a highly effective therapy, this was a significant omission.
And third, the median follow-up period for the ETS group was twice as long as that of the HiTS group (eight versus four years), which theoretically could have played a role in more relapses or MRI activity being seen in the ETS patients.
Predicting risk of MS reactivation after stopping or switching disease-modifying therapy
What is the risk of stopping or switching a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) after several years in which a person with MS has been stable on the medication?
It’s a challenging question for many people with relapsing multiple sclerosis and their clinicians. On the one hand, there is the argument to “leave well enough alone” and “not mess with success.” On the other hand, many people would like to avoid the potential adverse effects of treatment, particularly those that can occur with higher-efficacy therapies. Financial concerns can also be a consideration, especially for patients facing high out-of-pocket costs for their medication.
To help people with MS and their clinicians make informed decisions about discontinuing treatment or “de-escalating” from a high-efficacy medication to a moderate-efficacy DMT, researchers developed the “Vienna Innsbruck DMT Discontinuation Score” based on Age, Activity on MRI, and Duration in Stable Course; or – as its developers call it – the VIAADISC. As detailed in its name, the score is derived from factors including patient age, findings on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and length of stable disease course. Scores can range from 0 to 6 based on those factors and are used to estimate the risk that people will experience disease reactivation after stopping or changing their DMT.
A recent study involving 129 people with relapsing MS examined how well the score predicted risk in people taking various medications.4 All study participants had discontinued or de-escalated a DMT, had undergone MRI imaging before stopping or switching their medication, and had at least 12 months of follow-up data. They had an average age of 44.3 years at the time of medication discontinuance or change, and had been stable for a median 2.4 years. Almost half, 44%, had been taking Tysabri® (natalizumab), while other DMTs studied included Tecfidera® (dimethyl fumarate) 19%, Aubagio® (teriflunomide) 17%, and Gilenya® (fingolimod) 14%.
Over a median follow-up of six years, 55% of people experienced disease reactivation. Looking at the experience of people on different DMTs, the researchers found that:
- No disease reactivation was seen in people with a VIAADISC score of 0 or 1 who discontinued Tecfidera or Aubagio.
- Almost three-quarters of people (73.3%) who stopped Tysabri or Gilenya experienced disease reactivation. A higher VIAADISC score (of 2 or higher) predicted risk for reactivation in people taking these medications.
- De-escalation from Tysabri or Gilenya more than doubled the risk of disease reactivation compared to the risk faced by study participants overall.
Based on those results, the study’s authors concluded, “Risk after de-escalation from [Tysabri or Gilenya] is too high to allow reliable stratification and should be avoided by [making a] lateral switch [to a medication of similar strength].”
As this study and others provide medication-specific information on the impact of stopping or changing DMT regimens, people with MS and their providers will gain an increased ability to make highly informed, individualized decisions about treatment plans.
Trio of MS medication trials yield disappointing results
Just as Shakespeare wrote of true love, the course of medical research “never did run smooth.” But whether in love or in the lab, the lessons learned in failed endeavors can yield invaluable insights to guide the next attempt at success.
That re-purposed wisdom from Shakespeare was particularly timely in the closing weeks of 2025, which brought news of three MS medication studies that did not meet their primary endpoints.
In the first study, dubbed MS-STAT2, British researchers examined whether the cholesterol medication simvastatin could slow disability progression in secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS).5
Scientists long have been intrigued by the possibility that the statin medications used to treat high levels of low-density lipoprotein (“bad”) cholesterol may have a beneficial effect on MS. A Phase II study lent support to this idea by showing that people with SPMS taking simvastatin daily had less brain atrophy over time than others with SPMS who received placebo.
On the basis of those findings, the British researchers proceeded to the Phase III, randomized, MS-STAT2 study, which involved 964 people. All study participants were between 18 and 65 years old, had a diagnosis of SPMS, and had a baseline Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score of 4.0 to 6.5, indicating a moderate degree of disability.
Study participants were randomly assigned on a 1:1 basis to receive either 80 mg of simvastatin daily or a placebo for up to 4.5 years. The trial’s primary endpoint was time to six-month confirmed disability progression (CDP), as measured by change from baseline in EDSS score. Unfortunately, as reported in October in the Lancet medical journal, the study did not show simvastatin to be beneficial in reducing six-month CDP, which occurred in 36% of people in the placebo group and 40% of those receiving simvastatin.
Late November brought news that PIPE-307, an investigational medication being developed by Contineum Therapeutics, did not meet its primary or secondary efficacy endpoints in the Phase II VISTA trial assessing its use in people with relapsing-remitting MS.6
PIPE-307 belongs to a class of medications known as M1 receptor antagonists. These medications block the neurotransmitter acetylcholine at muscarinic M1 receptors in the central nervous system (CNS), which can have an impact on nerve signaling. A statement from Contineum Therapeutics noted that even though PIPE-307 did not meet its efficacy endpoints, the trial showed that the medication had “acceptable safety and tolerability at both doses” evaluated in the study.
“We’re disappointed by these results, but are grateful to the VISTA trial investigators, and especially to the patients and their families,” said Timothy Watkins, MD, MSc, the company’s Chief Medical Officer and Head of Development. He added, “We intend to learn from these data and remain committed to pursuing novel therapies for patients with inflammatory and fibrotic diseases.”
Meanwhile, on December 15, the French biopharmaceutical company Sanofi announced that the Phase III PERSEUS study evaluating its investigational medication tolebrutinib did not meet its primary endpoint of delaying time to six-month composite confirmed disability progression (cCDP) in study participants with primary-progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). “Based on these results, Sanofi will not pursue regulatory registration for PPMS,” the company said in a statement.7
Nine days later, on December 24, Sanofi announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which had been expected to make a decision on whether to approve tolebrutinib for use in non-relapsing secondary-progressive MS, instead had issued a complete response letter asking Sanofi to provide more data to support its application for the approval.8
Houman Ashrafian, Executive Vice President and Head of Research & Development at Sanofi, said that the “FDA decision is a significant and meaningful change in direction from the feedback the agency previously provided to Sanofi. We are very disappointed by the FDA’s action. Disability progression remains a large unmet medical need in MS, and tolebrutinib was previously awarded breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA in recognition of its potential to address this critical gap. We believe that the FDA should also take the advice of scientific experts, clinicians, and patients in this matter to ensure all perspectives are considered. We remain committed to working with the FDA to find a path forward for tolebrutinib and ultimately serve the MS community.”
Sanofi noted that tolebrutinib is an investigational, oral, brain-penetrant Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor specifically designed to target smoldering neuroinflammation, a key driver of disability progression in MS.
While these developments would seem to affirm the notion that “bad news comes in threes,” there undoubtedly are silver linings within the findings from all three studies in terms of data points and patterns that can help researchers refine approaches, shift focus, and hopefully achieve better results going forward.
Three factors predict fatigue onset over 2.5 years in people with MS
Depression, anxiety, and a relatively high degree of physical disability are risk factors for future fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis, according to a trio of investigators from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.9
The researchers analyzed data on 6,327 people with MS who reported no fatigue at the start of the time period studied. Over an average 2.5 years of follow-up, 23.1% of the people developed sustained fatigue, as measured by a validated fatigue scale.
Compared to study participants who remained fatigue-free during the follow-up period, those developing fatigue were more likely to have depression and anxiety at baseline. Further, the researchers found that higher baseline physical disability – again as measured by a validated scale – was an even stronger predictor of subsequent fatigue than those mental health conditions.
Meanwhile, relatively higher scores on baseline tests of cognition appeared to be protective in terms of reducing risk of future fatigue.
This study’s findings add to the growing body of literature revealing that depression and anxiety are detrimental factors that can indicate problems beyond their direct impact. It is important to note that this research identified these mental health issues as predictive factors. The study did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship, meaning that it did not show that treating depression and anxiety could prevent or reduce the risk of future fatigue, although that is an important topic to investigate in future research.
Nonetheless, the study underscores that people with MS who are fortunate enough to be free of fatigue at diagnosis or early in their disease course cannot, unfortunately, assume that this will always be the case. Individuals should take what steps they can to optimize their health in pursuit of continued well-being.
Small study suggests that caffeine may effectively treat MS fatigue
Although a barista obviously cannot take the place of a pharmacist, caffeine (such as that found in a cup of coffee) may for some individuals provide an effective treatment for MS-related fatigue, according to a small but intriguing study.10
Noting the significant challenges fatigue poses in MS, and saying that prescription medications for the condition have “inconsistent” efficacy, a team of Iranian researchers decided to examine the impact of 100 mg of oral caffeine – which is roughly the amount of caffeine found in a standard, eight-ounce cup of coffee.
The investigators recruited 60 people with MS and assigned them at random to take either caffeine or placebo for 12 weeks. The study’s main endpoint was severity of fatigue, as assessed by the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20). Quality of life was a secondary endpoint, and adverse effects were also monitored.
At the end of the study, the people receiving caffeine had a statistically significant decline in their MFI-20 scores – representing reduced fatigue – relative to their own baseline scores and compared to the placebo group’s scores. They also showed improvement relative to their baseline and the placebo group on several quality-of-life measures. Further, the researchers reported, “caffeine was well-tolerated among participants, with no serious adverse events reported.” They concluded, “These results suggest that caffeine may be a practical, readily available, and cost-effective therapeutic option for fatigue associated with MS.”
Study finds that menopause is not associated with MS progression
Menopause can bring plenty of challenges, but MS disability progression does not appear to be one of them, according to a team of Australian investigators.11
The researchers reached that conclusion after looking for changes over time in the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores of 987 women with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Five hundred and eighty-three of the study participants were premenopausal, while 404 were postmenopausal. In the latter group, the median age at menopause was 48.5 years.
The EDSS runs from 0 to 10, with a higher score indicating a greater degree of disability. As people with MS experience increasing disability over time, their score rises. Each woman participating in the study had at least three EDSS scores, measured at different clinic visits, recorded in her medical record. In comparing the patterns of change between the premenopausal and postmenopausal women, researchers found that menopause was not associated with an increased risk of confirmed disability progression or of moving from relapsing-remitting MS to secondary-progressive MS.
In a second analysis, the researchers looked at whether menopause represents a turning point in the course of MS. They examined data on 209 women who had at least one EDSS score recorded before reaching menopause and one or more EDSS measurements following menopause. Consistent with the results of their larger study, they found that menopause was not a pivotal occurrence in terms of a woman’s MS.
Relapse activity during pregnancy, or in the postpartum year, linked to accelerated disability progression
Women with MS who experience relapse activity during pregnancy or in the postpartum year face an elevated risk for disease progression in the two years after delivery.
That finding emerged from a Swiss study in which investigators analyzed outcomes in 66 women with MS who had a total of 96 pregnancies between 2010 and 2023.12 Most of the women in the study had relapsing-remitting MS, and 80% of the pregnancies occurred while women were taking disease-modifying therapies (DMTs).
Relapse during pregnancy or in the postpartum year occurred in 33 of the 96 pregnancies, with the incidence being highest in the first three months after delivery. In the 12 months following delivery, 25.8% of the women who had a relapse had documented disability progression, as compared with 5.5% of study participants who did not have relapse activity. That almost five-fold difference was statistically significant. Follow-up at two years showed that the differences in disability progression were sustained over these two years, according to changes as measured by Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores.
In delving deeper into their data, the researchers found that:
- The women experiencing relapses were less likely than their counterparts to be taking a DMT (66.7% vs. 87.3%).
- Identification of spinal lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at diagnosis and prior to conception was associated with a significantly higher risk of relapse during pregnancy and the postpartum year.
- In women taking Tysabri® (natalizumab), relapse risk was lower when the DMT was continued into the third trimester.
The investigators also had a piece of very good news pertaining to all of the women participating in the trial: More than 95% of their babies were born at term, and there was no significant difference in neonatal outcomes between the women who experienced relapse during pregnancy or in the following year and those who did not.
As researchers learn more about how relapse activity during pregnancy affects the future course of MS and the impact of DMT use on pregnant women and neonatal outcomes, women and their clinicians will have an increased ability to make informed decisions about this often-complex and always-important subject.
[Editor’s note: Individuals considering pregnancy along with taking a DMT should always consult their physician in advance to ensure safety as well as assess if the benefits outweigh any risks.]
Study: Migraine rate in people with MS is double that of the general population
A two-year study conducted by Greek investigators found that the prevalence of migraine headaches in people with MS is roughly twice that of healthy controls (31.3% vs. 16.7%).13 Further, the researchers found that people with MS experienced more frequent and longer migraines than people without MS and more frequently used acute medications to treat their migraines.
The researchers noted that several earlier studies had shown migraines to be more common in people with MS. However, they added, many of those studies relied on people recalling their headache history or had other design features that introduced the potential for inaccuracies. By contrast, their study was prospective – meaning that people enrolled in the trial and then recorded details about their migraines as the headaches occurred. Additionally, the study employed headache diaries and repeat assessments to minimize recall bias and enhance the reliability of findings.
The study involved 192 participants. Ninety-six of those people had MS. The other 96 were healthy controls who were matched to the people with MS by age and sex. All participants kept headache diaries and were assessed by clinicians every six months for two years, for a total of four assessments.
One welcome finding from the study: People with MS were no more likely than healthy controls to experience tension-type headaches, which are far more common than migraines. However, when people with MS did have tension headaches, they tended to have more severe symptoms than the matched controls.
The study’s authors concluded, “These results highlight the need for further research into the mechanisms underlying the increased migraine prevalence in [people with multiple sclerosis].”
Measuring the impact of MS on employment status
A large study conducted in the United Kingdom found that of 1,865 people with MS who were aged 20 to 60 years, only 32.7% worked full time.14
Further, in following 1,035 people with MS who were working full or part time at the start of the study period, researchers found that over an average follow-up of 22.7 months:
- Women were 3.9 times more likely than men to move from full-time to part-time work.
- While 7.6% of study participants returned to the work force or moved from part-time to full-time employment during the study period, net annual changes in employment status included 3.1% of people discontinuing work and 1.8% shifting from full-time to part-time work.
- Risk factors for stopping work included impaired cognition and a higher number of comorbidities, which are other medical conditions that occur in addition to one’s MS.
- Taking a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) increased the likelihood that someone would continue to work.
After reporting their findings, the study’s authors concluded, “Screening for people with MS at greater risk of losing employment could be readily done in clinical practice, facilitating further discussion with the multidisciplinary team and referral to support services, as appropriate.”
While differences between the United Kingdom and the United States in government employment and disability policies may mean that this study’s specific findings are not fully translatable to the American experience, this research nonetheless paints a picture of employment-related challenges that likely feels quite familiar to people with MS on this side of the Atlantic. Further, the authors’ findings about the benefits of DMTs and the importance of identifying and addressing issues that could interfere with employment seem as applicable here as in the United Kingdom.
References
- Nag N, Yu M, Jelinek G, Fidao A. Healthy lifestyle is associated with reduced fatigue, depression, and disability over 5 years in people with multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2026;105:106863.
- Karpatkin H, Cohen ET, Rachwani J, et al. Cooling vests improve 6-minute walk test performance in people with multiple sclerosis: a randomized crossover trial. Int J MS Care. 2025;27:https://doi.org/10.7224/1537-2073.2024-021.
- Norborg H, Aarseth JH, Mannseth J, et al. Effect of early highly effective treatment compared to an escalating treatment strategy in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2025; 103:106702. doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2025.106702.
- Bsteh G, Introcaso V, Gradl C, et al. Risk stratification for disease reactivation after therapy de-escalation/discontinuation in relapsing multiple sclerosis by the VIAADISC score. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2025; 103:106691.doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2025.106691.
- Chataway J, Williams T, Blackstone J, et al. Effect of repurposed simvastatin on disability progression in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS-STAT2): a phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet. 2025;406(10512):1611-1624.
- Contineum Therapeutics. Contineum Therapeutics reports topline data from its phase 2 PIPE-307 VISTA trial for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). San Diego, CA. November 20, 2025. Available at ir.contineum-tx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/contineum-therapeutics-reports-topline-data-its-phase-2-pipe-307. Accessed January 18, 2026.
- Sanofi. Sanofi provides update on tolebrutinib in primary progressive multiple sclerosis. Paris, France. December 15, 2026. Available at www.sanofi.com/en/media-room/press-releases/2025/2025-12-15-06-05-00-3205094. Accessed January 18, 2026.
- Sanofi. Sanofi provides update on tolebrutinib regulatory submission in non-relapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. Paris, France. December 24, 2026. Available at www.sanofi.com/en/media-room/press-releases/2025/2025-12-24-06-00-00-3210238. Accessed January 18, 2026.
- Ghajarzadeh M, Mowry, EM, Nourbakhsh B. Baseline predictors of sustained fatigue onset in multiple sclerosis: A longitudinal survival analysis of the MS PATHS cohort. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2026;106: doi.org/10.1016/j.msard.2025.106915.
- Baghbanian SM, Gharanjik A, Ghazaeian M, Bakhshi A, Hosseinnataj A. Efficacy of caffeine supplementation on fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2025:106:106923.doi:10.1016/j.msard.2025.106923.
- Bridge F, Sanfilippo PG, Zho C. Menopause impact on multiple sclerosis disability progression. JAMA Neurol. 2025;82;(12):1219-226. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.3538.
- Walter, L, Kana V, Hosli S, et al. Relapse activity during pregnancy and the postpartum year is associated with accelerated disability progression in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2026;106: doi.org/10.1016/j.msard.2025.106932.
- Gklinos P, Evangelopoulos M-E, Velonakis G, Mitsikostas D-D. Migraine and tension-type headache in multiple sclerosis: A two-year, prospective, longitudinal, controlled study. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2025;103:106664.
- Young CA, Rog D, Tanasescu R, et al. on behalf of the TONIC Study Group. Employment status in people with multiple sclerosis: Profile, dynamic changes and determinants over time. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2025;106:106911.doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2025.106911.
For More Information
For general information or to speak with a trained Client Services Specialist, please call MSAA’s Helpline at (800) 532-7667, extension 154. Questions to MSAA’s Client Services department may also be emailed to MSquestions@mymsaa.org.
Written by Tom Garry, Medical Writer
Reviewed by Dr. Barry Hendin, MSAA Chief Medical Officer
Edited by Susan Wells Courtney, MSAA Senior Writer
Medical details and study results provided in MSAA’s published materials are for informational purposes only and are not to be considered as treatment advice or recommendations. Readers are encouraged to consult a healthcare professional before making any changes to their current treatment regimen.
