Biotech Values

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More ECTRIMS coverage from Medpage Today:

http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ECTRIMS/

ECTRIMS: T-Cell Stimulation Cut With Glatiramer

http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ECTRIMS/22804

GOTHENBURG, Sweden -- The ability of monocytes to stimulate proinflammatory T cells is reduced in humans treated with glatiramer acetate (Copaxone), according to a study presented here.

The discovery sheds new light on the mechanism of action of glatiramer acetate (GA) in multiple sclerosis, according to lead author Collin Spencer, PhD, a neuroimmunology researcher at the University of California San Francisco. Spencer presented initial results of his study on human cells at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis meeting.

The results could influence the way the benefits of GA in MS are understood, he said.

ECTRIMS: Novel MS Drug Laquinimod Likely to Survive Missed Endpoint

http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ECTRIMS/29181

[It raised possibility of laquinimod used in combination with other MS drugs? I would think it would be tough to combine different MS drugs.]

That also means laquinimod is shaping up as a drug that might best be used in combination with other agents that target immune elements more directly.

"I think the future of MS therapy probably will be in combinations, as it has in other fields," he said. Because laquinimod "is not a primary immunosuppressant," he added, it might produce "an additive and possibly a synergistic effect" with other drugs.