New positive data on the experimental drug evobrutinib against multiple sclerosis, highlight long-term benefits in patients with the relapsing form, treated for more than three and a half years. The results of the Phase 2 clinical study showing how the annualized relapse rates have remained low and the level of disability stable were presented at the Ectrims congress, taking place in Amsterdam, by the pharmaceutical company Merck. Furthermore, the number of lesions and volume did not increase. Evobrutinib is a highly selective immunomodulator that is taken orally. It manages to reach the central nervous system and acts on both peripheral and central causes of inflammation, inhibiting the action of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (Btk) in both B lymphocytes and microglial cells. A ‘target’ drug, therefore, with a dual approach that can offer better control of the silent progression of the disease between attacks, as well as blocking relapses in people living with relapsing multiple sclerosis. “Disease progression is a major concern in the multiple sclerosis community. Knowing better the silent progression of the disease without recurrence – emphasizes Patrick Vermersch, Vice President, Research in Biology and Health, University of Lille – will help us to better understand MS, in addition to its potential treatments, because this pathology has a deleterious impact. only from a physical point of view, but also from a cognitive and mental point of view “. In this analysis, the longest and most thorough ever conducted on this class of drugs,” evobrutinib has kept the disease stable for up to three and a half years and has been shown to being able to act directly on the strong inflammation that characterizes relapsing multiple sclerosis, which contributes to the silent causes of disease progression. “Other data presented by Merck also show the reduction in blood levels of Nfl (ie light chain neurofilaments), a key biomarker, capable of predicting future brain volume loss and disease progression. According to experts, evobrutinib can reduce neuronal damage in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis.
Finally, according to the latest data obtained from an analysis of patients vaccinated (24) against Covid-19, 96% of people with relapsing multiple sclerosis treated with evobrutinib achieved an antibody response after two doses of anti-Covid mRna vaccine, just as it happens in untreated patients with SMR and in healthy subjects.