Recent clinical trials in Alzheimer’s disease have faced numerous setbacks, not least in the failure of three recent clinical development programs of novel therapies. Read More
Neurology
Alemtuzumab receives Health Canada approval
April 23, 2014Alemtuzumab, a monoclonal antibody that targets CD52 on T and B lymphocytes, has received approval in Canada for the treatment of adults aged 18-64 years with relapsing-remitting MS who have had an inadequate response to interferon-beta or other disease-modifying
therapies.
The drug is administered by IV infusion at a dose of 12 mg/day x 5 days, followed one year later by 12 mg/day x 3 days. The recommended duration of the infusion is approximately 4 hours. Read More
Fingolimod: impact on beta-amyloid neurotoxicity?
March 19, 2014A new study in mouse cortical neurons suggests that fingolimod, a sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator currently used to treat MS, may reduce beta-amyloid neurotoxicity (Doi et al. PLoS One 2013;8:e6; free full text at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625222/pdf/pone.0061988.pdf).
MS treatment failure: who is at risk?
March 19, 2014A new study in Brazil reports that risk factors for treatment failure among MS patients are comparable to those reported for patients in the northern hemisphere (Damasceno et al. J Neurol Sci 2013;324:29-33). Read More
Neurodegenerative disease and high-voltage power lines
March 5, 2014Over the past few decades there have been numerous studies investigating whether proximity to high-voltage power lines and exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) contributes to the development of neurodegenerative diseases. The most recent epidemiological study reports that living near a power line does not increase the risk of developing dementia, Parkinson’s disease or motor neuron disease (Frei et al. Am J Epidemiol 2013; epublished April 9, 2013). Read More