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| #Post#: 1199-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Mayzent (siponimod, BAF312) for active SPMS, RRMS | |
| By: agate Date: April 29, 2016, 9:58 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| From the MSAA 2015 Research Update: | |
| [quote]Siponimod (BAF312) | |
| Data from a Phase II dose-finding study of siponimod in people | |
| with RRMS were also reported in 2012. Siponimod has a relatively | |
| short half-life compared to Gilenya, which means that the drug | |
| does not stay in the body as long. Researchers hope that this | |
| will minimize cardiac issues. | |
| The trial had a complex design in which the goal was to | |
| determine the most appropriate dosing regimen. One group of 188 | |
| patients received placebo or once-daily siponimod in doses of 10 | |
| mg, 2 mg, or 0.5 mg for six months. A second group of 109 | |
| patients were given one of two additional intermediate doses of | |
| 1.25 mg or 0.25 mg for three months. | |
| At six months, the proportion of relapse-free patients as | |
| compared to placebo was 84 percent for the 10-mg group, 92 | |
| percent for the 2-mg group, and 77 percent for the 0.5-mg group. | |
| In the placebo group, 72 percent were relapse-free. After six | |
| months, the ARR (annual relapse rate) was lower for the | |
| individuals who were taking one of the three higher doses, as | |
| compared to those taking one of the two lower doses or the | |
| placebo. Additionally, MRI findings indicated that treatment | |
| with siponimod was associated with a reduction in active lesions | |
| on MRI. The 2-mg dose reached statistical significance versus | |
| placebo, with a reduction in active lesions of approximately 80 | |
| percent. | |
| A Phase III trial of siponimod in secondary-progressive MS (the | |
| EXPAND trial)58 began recruitment in 2013, and is expected to | |
| run through Fall 2016. This is the first S1P receptor modulator | |
| to be studied in SPMS.[/quote] | |
| http://mymsaa.org/publications/msresearch-update-2015/siponimod/ | |
| #Post#: 1341-------------------------------------------------- | |
| MSAA update on siponimod--Phase III trial results promising for | |
| SPMS | |
| By: agate Date: August 26, 2016, 6:05 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| MSAA newsletter, August 26, 2016: | |
| [quote]Experimental SPMS Medication Shows Positive Results | |
| A Phase III study with siponimod, an experimental oral treatment | |
| for MS, is showing positive results for individuals with | |
| secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). | |
| According to an August 25th press release from Novartis, the | |
| pharmaceutical company developing siponimod, the Phase III | |
| EXPAND study met its primary endpoint, which was to reduce the | |
| risk of confirmed disability progression at three months, versus | |
| a placebo. This improvement in the time to three-month confirmed | |
| disability progression was determined according to measurements | |
| on the expanded disability status scale (EDSS). | |
| These study results are significant because no disease-modifying | |
| therapy is available in the United States for the long-term | |
| treatment of SPMS. This form of MS follows relapsing-remitting | |
| MS (RRMS) and is characterized by a slow and steady progression, | |
| with or without relapses. If relapses do occur, they usually do | |
| not fully remit. | |
| Novartis states that the EXPAND trial is the largest randomized, | |
| double-blind, placebo-controlled study to date with individuals | |
| diagnosed with SPMS and included 1,651 people with SPMS from 31 | |
| countries. Study participants received either 2 mgs of the oral | |
| medication siponimod, taken once daily, or a placebo. These were | |
| given in a 2:1 ratio, so twice as many participants were on the | |
| active medication versus the placebo. | |
| Siponimod, also known as BAF312, is in a class of | |
| immunomodulatory drugs called �S1P-receptor modulators.� | |
| According to MSAA�s MS Research Update in 2016, the structure of | |
| these medications is similar to a naturally occurring component | |
| of cell-surface receptors on white blood cells. These | |
| medications block potentially damaging T cells from leaving | |
| lymph nodes, lowering their number in the blood and tissues. | |
| They may reduce damage to the central nervous system (CNS) and | |
| enhance the repair of damaged nerves within the brain and spinal | |
| cord. | |
| MSAA�s MS Research Update in 2016 also notes that another oral | |
| treatment for MS, Gilenya� (fingolimod), was the first | |
| S1P-receptor modulator approved for treating relapsing forms of | |
| MS and study data suggest that it may have neuro-protective | |
| effects. Siponimod is a similar medication to Gilenya and has a | |
| relatively short half-life, which means that the drug does not | |
| stay in the body as long. Researchers hope that this will | |
| minimize cardiac issues that are often seen with these types of | |
| medications. | |
| While Novartis announced that the study met its primary | |
| endpoint, specific details on the results were not included. | |
| According to the press release, secondary endpoints include | |
| delay in the time to six-month confirmed disability progression | |
| versus placebo, time to confirmed worsening of at least 20 | |
| percent from baseline in the timed 25-foot walk test (T25FW), T2 | |
| lesion volume, annualized relapse rate (ARR), and the safety and | |
| tolerability of siponimod in people with SPMS. Initial results | |
| of the EXPAND study, including primary and key secondary | |
| endpoints, will be presented at the European Committee for | |
| Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) annual | |
| meeting, which will be held this September in London, England. | |
| MSAA�s Chief Medical Consultant Dr. Jack Burks explains, �The | |
| possibility of having a treatment available to individuals with | |
| secondary-progressive MS is very exciting and brightens the | |
| future for everyone with this form of the disease. Readers | |
| should note that while the three-month data are encouraging, we | |
| await the results of the six-month findings, other secondary | |
| endpoints, and safety data. Additionally, we will get more | |
| insight into siponimod�s effectiveness with non-relapsing as | |
| well as relapsing SPMS patients. I look forward to learning | |
| about these and other details when new data are presented at | |
| ECTRIMS next month.� | |
| ... | |
| ____________________ | |
| Written by Susan Courtney, MSAA Senior Writer | |
| Reviewed by Jack Burks, MD, MSAA Chief Medical Consultant | |
| Portions of MSAA�s MS Research Update 2016, coauthored by | |
| Stephen Krieger, MD and Michelle Fabian, MD, were also included | |
| in this article.[/quote] | |
| The article can be seen here | |
| http://mymsaa.org/experimental-spms-medication-shows-positive-results/. | |
| #Post#: 1358-------------------------------------------------- | |
| (Abst.) Safety and efficacy of siponimod (BAF312) in RRMS | |
| By: agate Date: September 13, 2016, 7:07 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| An abstract of an earlier study of siponimod. | |
| From JAMA Neurology, September 2016: | |
| [quote]Safety and Efficacy of Siponimod (BAF312) in Patients | |
| With Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis | |
| Dose-Blinded, Randomized Extension of the Phase 2 BOLD Study | |
| Ludwig Kappos, MD1,2,3; David K. B. Li, MD4,5; Olaf St�ve, MD6; | |
| Hans-Peter Hartung, MD7; Mark S. Freedman, MD8; Bernhard Hemmer, | |
| MD9; Peter Rieckmann, MD10; Xavier Montalban, MD11; Tjalf | |
| Ziemssen, MD12; Brian Hunter, PhD13; Sophie Arnould, PhD13; Erik | |
| Wallstr�m, MD13; Krzysztof Selmaj, MD14 | |
| Importance | |
| This dose-blinded extension of the phase 2 BOLD (BAF312 on MRI | |
| Lesion Given Once Daily) Study in relapsing-remitting multiple | |
| sclerosis provides evidence on disease activity and safety of a | |
| range of siponimod doses for up to 24 months. | |
| Objective | |
| To assess the safety and efficacy of siponimod for up to 24 | |
| months during the dose-blinded extension of the BOLD Study. | |
| Design, Setting, and Participants | |
| At extension baseline in a randomized clinical trial, patients | |
| taking siponimod continued at the originally assigned dose and | |
| patients taking placebo were rerandomized to the 5 siponimod | |
| doses. Initial treatment was titrated over 10 days. A total of | |
| 252 eligible patients were treated at specialized multiple | |
| sclerosis centers for this study conducted from August 30, 2010, | |
| through June 3, 2013. | |
| Interventions | |
| Siponimod at 10-mg, 2-mg, 1.25-mg, 0.5-mg, and 0.25-mg doses. | |
| Main Outcomes and Measures | |
| Safety assessment included blood tests, documentation of | |
| adverse events at regular scheduled visits and Holter | |
| monitoring; key efficacy measures were annualized relapse rate | |
| and magnetic resonance imaging lesion activity. | |
| Results | |
| Among the 252 eligible patients, the mean (SD) ages were 37.2 | |
| (8.4) years, 35.2 (9.1) years, 34.0 (7.6) years, 35.1 (9.2) | |
| years, and 36.8 (9.1) years in the 0.25-mg, 0.5-mg, 1.25-mg, | |
| 2-mg, and 10-mg groups. Of the 252 patients, 184 (73%) entered | |
| the extension and received siponimod (10 mg: n = 33; | |
| 2 mg: n = 29; 1.25 mg: n = 43; 0.5 mg: | |
| n = 29; and 0.25 mg: n = 50); 159 | |
| (86.4%) completed the dose-blinded extension. The incidence of | |
| adverse events was similar across treatment groups (10 mg: | |
| 87.9%; 2 mg: 89.7%; 1.25 mg: 88.4%; 0.5 mg: 96.6%; and 0.25 mg: | |
| 84.0%). | |
| Nine patients reported serious adverse events (2 mg: 3/29 | |
| [10.3%], 1.25 mg: 1/43 [2.3%], 0.5 mg: 4/29 [13.8%], and 0.25 | |
| mg: 1/50 [2.0%]; no serious adverse event was reported for more | |
| than 1 patient and no new safety signals occurred compared with | |
| the BOLD Study. Dose titration mitigated symptomatic bradycardic | |
| events. Reductions in mean (95% CI) gadolinium-enhancing T1 | |
| lesion counts from the last BOLD assessment were sustained in | |
| the 10-mg, 2-mg, 1.25-mg, and 0.5-mg dose groups (0 [0-0], 0.1 | |
| [0-1.9], 0.1 [0-2.6], and 0.1 [0-2.8] at month 24, | |
| respectively). At the 3 highest vs 2 lowest doses, the estimated | |
| new/newly enlarging T2 lesion counts (95% CIs) were lower during | |
| months 6 to 12 (0.5 [0.2-1.3], 0.4 [0.2-1.1], and 0.2 [0.1-0.6] | |
| vs 1.3 [0.6-2.8] and 1.4 [0.7-2.7]), months 12 to 18 (0.4 | |
| [0.1-1.1], 0.4 [0.1-1.3], and 0.4 [0.2-1.0] vs 1.0 [0.4-2.6] and | |
| 3.6 [1.7-7.6]), and months 18 to 24 (0 [0-not estimable], 0.9 | |
| [0.1-7.6], and 0.1 [0-1.7] vs 1.6 [0.3-7.7] and 2.0 [0.4-9.5]). | |
| Annualized relapse rates (95% CIs) up to month 24 were similarly | |
| lower for the 3 highest doses: 0.22 (0.12-0.40) for 10 mg, 0.20 | |
| (0.10-0.38) for 2 mg, and 0.14 (0.08-0.26) for 1.25 mg vs 0.33 | |
| (0.19-0.56) for 0.5 mg and 0.33 (0.21-0.50) for 0.25 mg. | |
| Conclusions and Relevance | |
| For up to 24 months of siponimod treatment, multiple sclerosis | |
| disease activity was low and there were no new safety signals; | |
| investigation in phase 3 trials is encouraged. | |
| Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: | |
| NCT01185821[/quote] | |
| #Post#: 1376-------------------------------------------------- | |
| (ECTRIMS) Efficacy and safety of siponimod in SPMS (Phase 3 EXPA | |
| ND study) | |
| By: agate Date: September 21, 2016, 3:44 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Presented at the annual ECTRIMS conference (London, September | |
| 14-17, 2016): | |
| [quote] Efficacy and safety of siponimod in secondary | |
| progressive multiple sclerosis - results of the placebo | |
| controlled, double-blind, Phase III EXPAND study | |
| L. Kappos1, A. Bar-Or2, B. Cree3, R. Fox4, G. Giovannoni5, R. | |
| Gold6, P. Vermersch7, S. Arnould8, T. Sidorenko8, C. Wolf9, E. | |
| Wallstroem8, F. Dahlke8 | |
| 1Neurologic Clinic and Policlinic, Departments of Medicine, | |
| Clinical Research, Biomedicine and Biomedical Engineering, | |
| University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland, 2Neuroimmunology Unit, | |
| Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, | |
| Montreal, QC, Canada, 3Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University of | |
| California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 4Mellen Centre for | |
| Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis, Neurological | |
| Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States, | |
| 5Blizard Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and | |
| Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United | |
| Kingdom, 6Department of Neurology, St. | |
| Josef-Hospital/Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany, | |
| 7University of Lille, Department of Neurology, Lille City, | |
| France, 8Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland, 9Lycalis sprl, | |
| Brussels, Belgium | |
| Background: | |
| There is high unmet need for treatments that delay disability | |
| progression in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). | |
| Siponimod (BAF312) is an orally active selective modulator of | |
| the sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor subtypes 1 and 5. EXPAND is | |
| the largest randomised controlled study in SPMS to date. | |
| Objective: | |
| EXPAND is a phase 3, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, | |
| placebo-controlled study designed to evaluate the efficacy, | |
| safety and tolerability of siponimod in treatment of SPMS. | |
| Design/methods: | |
| Patients with SPMS, defined by a progressive increase in | |
| disability (of ≥6 months duration) in the absence of or | |
| independent of relapses, aged 18‒60 years and an Expanded | |
| Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score from 3.0‒6.5 were | |
| enrolled. | |
| Eligible patients were randomised (2:1) to receive either 2mg | |
| once daily siponimod (following initial dose titration starting | |
| at 0.25mg) or matching placebo. The event-driven study design | |
| allowed the blinded Core study stop after a pre-specified number | |
| of confirmed disability progression (CDP) events occurred. | |
| The primary efficacy outcome was time to 3-month CDP measured by | |
| EDSS. The key secondary outcomes were time to confirmed | |
| worsening of ≥20% from baseline in the timed 25-foot walk | |
| test and T2 lesion volume change from baseline. | |
| Safety assessments included reporting of adverse events (AEs), | |
| serious AEs (SAEs) and clinically notable laboratory | |
| abnormalities. Patients who completed the Core phase were | |
| offered to receive open-label siponimod in the Extension phase. | |
| Results: | |
| Overall, 1651 patients were randomised in 31 countries. Baseline | |
| demographics and disease characteristics were previously | |
| reported, and they are representative of a patient population | |
| with SPMS. Overall, 1363 (83%) patients completed the Core | |
| study. Median time on study at core study completion was 21 | |
| months with majority of patients (87%) participating for | |
| ≥1 year. There were 449 CDP events (each patient could | |
| maximally contribute one event for the primary endpoint). AEs | |
| were reported in 85.3% and SAEs in 16.7% of patients. | |
| Conclusions: | |
| Top line efficacy and safety results of the EXPAND study will be | |
| presented. The results of this large controlled study that | |
| recruited an active SPMS population with and without | |
| superimposed relapses will determine if siponimod delays | |
| disability progression in SPMS, and will contribute to a better | |
| understanding of the natural history of SPMS in a | |
| well-controlled trial setting. | |
| _________________ | |
| Disclosure: | |
| Funding source: This study is supported by Novartis Pharma AG, | |
| Basel, Switzerland. | |
| Ludwig Kappos' institution (University Hospital Basel) has | |
| received in the last 3 years and used exclusively for research | |
| support: steering committee, advisory board, and consultancy | |
| fees from Actelion, Addex, Bayer HealthCare, Biogen Idec, | |
| Biotica, Genzyme, Lilly, Merck, Mitsubishi, Novartis, Ono | |
| Pharma, Pfizer, Receptos, Sanofi, Santhera, Siemens, Teva, UCB, | |
| and Xenoport; speaker fees from Bayer HealthCare, Biogen Idec, | |
| Merck, Novartis, Sanofi, and Teva; support of educational | |
| activities from Bayer HealthCare, Biogen, CSL Behring, Genzyme, | |
| Merck, Novartis, Sanofi, and Teva; royalties from Neurostatus | |
| Systems GmbH and grants from Bayer HealthCare, Biogen Idec, | |
| European Union, Merck, Novartis, Roche Research Foundation, | |
| Swiss MS Society, and the Swiss National Research Foundation. | |
| Amit Bar-Or has participated as a speaker in meetings sponsored | |
| by and received consulting fees from Amplimmune, Biogen Idec, | |
| Diogenix, Genentech, Sanofi-Genzyme, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, | |
| Ono Pharma, Teva Neuroscience, Receptos Inc., Roche, and | |
| Merck/EMD Serono and has received grant support from Amplimmune, | |
| Biogen Idec, Diogenix, Genentech, Sanofi- Genzyme, | |
| GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Ono Pharma, Teva Neuroscience, | |
| Receptos Inc., Roche, and Merck/EMD Serono. | |
| Bruce Cree has received personal compensation for consulting | |
| from Abbvie, Biogen Idec, EMD Serono, MedImmune, Novartis, | |
| Genzyme/Sanofi Aventis, and Teva Neurosciences; contracted | |
| research support (including clinical trials) from Acorda, Biogen | |
| Idec, EMD Serono, Hoffman La Roche, MedImmune, and Teva | |
| Neurosciences. | |
| Robert Fox has received compensation for serving as consultant | |
| or speaker from Allozyne, Avanir, Biogen Idec, Novartis, | |
| Questcor, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries; he or the | |
| institution he works for has received research support from | |
| Novartis. | |
| Gavin Giovannoni is steering committee member on the Daclizumab | |
| trials for AbbVie, steering committee member on the BG12 and | |
| Daclizumab trials for Biogen-Idec, has received consultancy fees | |
| for advisory board meetings, honoraria for speaking at | |
| Physicians summit, consultancy fees for advisory board meetings | |
| and steering committee for oral cladribine trials for | |
| Merck-Serono, steering committee member on Fingolimod and | |
| Siponimod trials for Novartis, steering committee member on the | |
| laquinimod trials for Teva, consultancy fees for advisory board | |
| meetings for Genzyme-Sanofi, honoraria for speaking at several | |
| medical education meetings, steering committee member on | |
| Ocrelizumab trials for Roche, consultancy fees in relation to | |
| DSMB activities for Synthon BV and Co-chief editor of Multiple | |
| Sclerosis and Related Disorders (Elsevier). | |
| Ralf Gold has received compensation for serving as consultant or | |
| speaker from Bayer HealthCare, Biogen Idec, Merck Serono, | |
| Novartis, and Teva Neuroscience, and he or the institution he | |
| works for has received research support from Bayer HealthCare, | |
| Biogen Idec, Merck Serono, Novartis, and Teva Neuroscience. | |
| Patrick Vermersch has received honoraria and consulting fees | |
| from Biogen Idec, Genzyme-Sanofi, Bayer, Novartis, Merck Serono, | |
| GSK and Almirall; research support from Biogen Idec, | |
| Genzyme-Sanofi, Bayer, and Merck Serono. | |
| Sophie Arnould, Tatiana Sidorenko, Erik Wallstroem and Frank | |
| Dahlke are employees of Novartis. | |
| Christian Wolf is a partner at Lycalis sprl. He is serving as a | |
| consultant to Novartis and has also received compensation for | |
| serving as a consultant for to-BBB, Desitin, Investitionsbank | |
| Berlin, Keyrus, Synthon, Mylan and Teva.[/quote] | |
| #Post#: 1383-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Siponimod may slow worsening in SPMS | |
| By: agate Date: September 25, 2016, 11:03 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| An article about the study that appeared in MedPage Today, | |
| September 19, 2016: | |
| http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ECTRIMS/60297?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2016-0… | |
| http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ECTRIMS/60297?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2016-0… | |
| #Post#: 1387-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: Siponimod (BAF312) | |
| By: ssalimi Date: September 28, 2016, 8:06 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Interesting that it only targets S1P-1/5 receptors rather than | |
| 1-5 like Fingolimod. Hoping to soon see what the AEs and SAEs | |
| were | |
| #Post#: 1388-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: Siponimod (BAF312) | |
| By: agate Date: September 28, 2016, 8:38 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [quote author=ssalimi link=topic=956.msg1387#msg1387 | |
| date=1475111199] | |
| Interesting that it only targets S1P-1/5 receptors rather than | |
| 1-5 like Fingolimod. Hoping to soon see what the AEs and SAEs | |
| were | |
| [/quote] | |
| Yes. I'm not sure what this means, exactly: | |
| [quote]Nine patients reported serious adverse events (2 mg: 3/29 | |
| [10.3%], 1.25 mg: 1/43 [2.3%], 0.5 mg: 4/29 [13.8%], and 0.25 | |
| mg: 1/50 [2.0%]; no serious adverse event was reported for more | |
| than 1 patient and no new safety signals occurred compared with | |
| the BOLD Study.[/quote] | |
| If there were 9 patients reporting SAEs, how can it be stated | |
| that "no serious adverse event was reported for more than 1 | |
| patient..."? Maybe I haven't read this right, or maybe there's a | |
| misprint. | |
| I'm very pleased that something is being developed for SPMS, and | |
| it's encouraging that siponimod doesn't linger for very long in | |
| the body. | |
| #Post#: 1656-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Novartis fast tracks siponimod (BAF312) for RRMS | |
| By: agate Date: April 26, 2017, 2:03 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Fast on the heels of the approval of Ocrevus, BAF312 (siponimod) | |
| is about to be made available to us. From MedPage Today, April | |
| 25--"Novartis Fast Tracks Early MS Drug": | |
| https://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/MultipleSclerosis/64789 | |
| https://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/MultipleSclerosis/64789 | |
| #Post#: 2024-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Phase 3 trial results looking good for siponimod (and Novartis) | |
| to treat SPMS | |
| By: agate Date: March 23, 2018, 11:09 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Lancet article (March 22) on the Phase III siponimod | |
| study--"Siponimod vs. placebo in secondary progress multiple | |
| sclerosis (EXPAND): A double-blind, randomised, phase 3 study" | |
| http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)30475-6/fullt… | |
| This is getting attention in the financial sector--from | |
| Endpoints News, March 23--"Poised for an FDA pitch, Novartis | |
| lays out all its Phase 3 cards on MS drug siponimod": | |
| https://endpts.com/poised-for-an-fda-pitch-novartis-lays-out-all-its-phiii-card… | |
| #Post#: 2050-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: Siponimod (BAF312) for SPMS | |
| By: agate Date: April 18, 2018, 1:29 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| More study is needed, according to this. From NEJM Journal Watch | |
| Neurology, April 13, 2018: | |
| SUMMARY AND COMMENT | NEUROLOGY | |
| April 13, 2018 | |
| Siponimod for Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis | |
| http://response.jwatch.org/t?r=3963&c=4977&l=8&ctl=326D9:504826E9A16F346E0DB1AC… | |
| Jaime Toro, MD | |
| http://response.jwatch.org/t?r=3963&c=4977&l=8&ctl=326DC:504826E9A16F346E0DB1AC… | |
| />reviewing Kappos L et al. Lancet 2018 Mar 31. | |
| Is siponimod an effective and safe drug for the treatment of | |
| patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis? | |
| Secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) is an MS subtype | |
| characterized by worsening of disability that begins insidiously | |
| in patients with preceding relapsing-remitting (RR) course, | |
| which is the most common mode of onset. The risk for and timing | |
| of transition from RRMS to SPMS is unpredictable; however, up to | |
| 90% of RRMS may evolve to SPMS over a 25-year time interval. | |
| Several disease-modifying therapies have shown efficacy in | |
| reducing relapses and disease activity in RRMS, but most of | |
| these have failed to prevent disease worsening in progressive | |
| MS. | |
| This multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, | |
| manufacturer-funded phase 3 study was done at almost 300 | |
| hospital clinics and specialized MS centers in 31 countries. | |
| Researchers randomized 1651 patients with a diagnosis of SPMS to | |
| the investigational drug siponimod (1105 patients) or placebo | |
| (546 patients). Of these, 1327 (80%) completed the study (82% on | |
| siponimod vs. 78% on placebo). Median time on study was 21 | |
| months and median exposure to the drug was 18 months. | |
| Three-month confirmed disability progression, the primary | |
| outcome, occurred in 288 (26%) of 1096 patients receiving | |
| siponimod and 173 (32%) of 545 patients receiving placebo, a | |
| significant difference (hazard ratio, 0.79; relative risk | |
| reduction, 21%). Adverse events were reported in more siponimod | |
| than placebo recipients (89% of 1099 patients vs. 82% of 546 | |
| patients), including adverse events described previously with | |
| other sphingosine-1-phophate receptor modulators (e.g., | |
| bradycardia, hypertension, varicella zoster reactivation) and | |
| more serious adverse events (18% vs. 15%). Frequencies of | |
| infections, malignancies, and mortality were the same in both | |
| treatment groups. | |
| COMMENT: | |
| In this study, siponimod reduced the risk for disability | |
| progression in a large population of patients, many of whom | |
| entered the study having already reached the nonrelapsing stage | |
| of SPMS with a high level of established disability. Although | |
| siponimod also had a good safety profile, other studies must be | |
| carried out to confirm that this drug could be an option in the | |
| treatment of SPMS. | |
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