Capital Berg

Keeps People Up-To-Date

Saturday, April 21, 2018
Log in
  • Home
  • United States
  • Business
  • Health
  • Science
  • Technology
  • About CapitalBerg
    • Analysts & Contributors
    • Advertising
    • Contact US
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use

Pages

  • About CapitalBerg
  • Advertising
  • Analysts & Contributors
  • Contact US
  • Investor Relations
  • Privacy Policy
  • SEC Disclosure
  • Terms of Use

Recent Posts

  • Des Plaines Registered Nurse Arrested for Soliciting Dark Web Hitman Services April 20, 2018
  • California Couple Nabbed by Cops After Defrauding and Killing Vietnam Veteran April 19, 2018
  • Spider Man Window Washer Sentenced to a Century Behind Bars for Child Porn April 19, 2018
  • Ohio Teen Arrest After Authorities Discover Elderly Woman’s Body in Closet April 18, 2018
  • Minnesota Elementary School Student Attacks Classmates with Knife April 17, 2018
  • Florida Woman Nabbed for Giving Child Pot and Meth April 16, 2018
  • California Toddler Calls Police to Report Double Homicide-Suicide April 16, 2018

Phase 3 Trials for Ocrelizumab Display Promising Results

December 26, 2016 By Cliff Jenkins Scott Leave a Comment

Email, RSS Follow
ocrelizumab

Using Ocrelizumab led to reduced frequency of relapses, decreasing brain lesion activity and decreasing disability progression, so far.

Ocrelizumab is an experimental drug most likely to be used in the future to treat multiple sclerosis (MS). According to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on December 22nd, phase 3 trials which test both the safety, as well as the efficacy of Ocrelizumab displayed promising results in treating MS.

Patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis who received Ocrelizumab during phase 3 trials showed less medical and brain scan evidence of disease progress, as opposed to individuals who received placebo.

Furthermore, in two distinct cases, patients with relapsing MS who were treated with the experimental drug displayed lower rates of progression and disease activity, as opposed to individuals who were treated with standard multiple sclerosis treatment, Interferon beta 1a.

The Science Behind Ocrelizumab

Scientists say that the experimental drug specializes in targeting a type of immune cells, known as the CD20-positive B cells. These are thought to contribute greatly to nerve cell damage and nerve cell insulation, myelin, which can ultimately result in disability for individuals who suffer from multiple sclerosis, says Peter Chin at Genentech, the company in charge of the drug’s development.

However, Ocrelizumab is not the first drug that has been found to target B cells. In an e-mail, Peter Chin says that B cells have also been targeted by other treatments engineered by Genentech, namely Rituxan, in other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and blood cancers. However, the experimental drug Genentech is working at the moment not only targets B cells and B cells alone but because of this, patients benefit from a stronger immune system, since other cells are left unharmed, consequently preserving important functions of the immune system.

Also, Ocrelizumab has been found to have a positive effect on both primary progressive, as well as relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis.

Clinical Trials

488 individuals with progressive MS were selected for the clinical trials. Out of the grand total, 244 patients received placebo. Over the course of three years, scientists have closely monitored the patients and pulled vital data.

Initial results showed that after 12 weeks of receiving the experimental drug, 32.9 percent of MS patients had confirmed disability progression, as opposed to 39.3 percent of individuals who received placebo. Even though the results look promising, chief medical consultant for the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, Dr. Jack Burks says that more research is needed. Nevertheless, using the experimental drug led to reduced frequency of relapses in patients with relapsing forms of MS, decreasing brain lesion activity and decreasing disability progression, so far.

Image Source: Pixabay

Email, RSS Follow
  • About the Author

About Cliff Jenkins Scott

Cliff likes to describe himself as made for the hard road. Freelancing is taking off across the world. And yet, valuable opportunities are hard to find he thinks, particularly when it comes to writing. After graduating with an MA degree in Communication as a major and Technology and Writing as minors, Cliff decided to give his own website hosting creative writing a boost and engage in an overwhelming number of projects, all of them focused on writing. He didn’t look for a quick burnout, but his eagerness to learn as much as possible as rapidly as possible kept him going.

Filed Under: Health

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 44 other subscribers

Recent Articles

Des Plaines Registered Nurse Arrested for Soliciting Dark Web Hitman Services

Des Plaines Registered Nurse Arrested for Soliciting Dark Web Hitman Services

April 20, 2018 By Denise Ehrlich Leave a Comment

California Couple Nabbed by Cops After Defrauding and Killing Vietnam Veteran

California Couple Nabbed by Cops After Defrauding and Killing Vietnam Veteran

April 19, 2018 By Carol Harper Leave a Comment

Spider Man Window Washer Sentenced to a Century Behind Bars for Child Porn

Spider Man Window Washer Sentenced to a Century Behind Bars for Child Porn

April 19, 2018 By Marlene R. Litten Leave a Comment

Ohio Teen Arrest After Authorities Discover Elderly Woman’s Body in Closet

Ohio Teen Arrest After Authorities Discover Elderly Woman’s Body in Closet

April 18, 2018 By Waleed Javed Leave a Comment

Minnesota Elementary School Student Attacks Classmates with Knife

Minnesota Elementary School Student Attacks Classmates with Knife

April 17, 2018 By Cliff Jenkins Scott Leave a Comment

Florida Woman Nabbed for Giving Child Pot and Meth

Florida Woman Nabbed for Giving Child Pot and Meth

April 16, 2018 By Carol Harper Leave a Comment

California Toddler Calls Police to Report Double Homicide-Suicide

California Toddler Calls Police to Report Double Homicide-Suicide

April 16, 2018 By Andreas Petersen Leave a Comment

Houston Mother Arrested for Abandoning Newborn in Flowerbed

Houston Mother Arrested for Abandoning Newborn in Flowerbed

April 13, 2018 By Waleed Javed Leave a Comment

Virginia Man Posed as Fake Cop to Follow Female Driver Across Three States

Virginia Man Posed as Fake Cop to Follow Female Driver Across Three States

April 12, 2018 By June Harris Leave a Comment

UK Clinical Hypnotherapist Nabbed After Teen Paid Her to Have Sex in Hotel Room

UK Clinical Hypnotherapist Nabbed After Teen Paid Her to Have Sex in Hotel Room

April 11, 2018 By Carol Harper Leave a Comment

Thousands of Early Galaxies Revealed by Map of Old Universe (Study)

Thousands of Early Galaxies Revealed by Map of Old Universe (Study)

April 10, 2018 By Waleed Javed Leave a Comment

Scientists Found a Possible Explanation for the Neanderthals’ Big Noses (Study)

Scientists Found a Possible Explanation for the Neanderthals’ Big Noses (Study)

April 10, 2018 By Waleed Javed Leave a Comment

Could the Clouds of Venus Be Holding Forms of Life?

Could the Clouds of Venus Be Holding Forms of Life?

April 5, 2018 By Waleed Javed Leave a Comment

Colorado Budget Analyst Gets Slapped with Jail Time for Taking Upskirt Pics

Colorado Budget Analyst Gets Slapped with Jail Time for Taking Upskirt Pics

April 4, 2018 By Carol Harper Leave a Comment

Related Articles

  • Snorting Condoms Challenge.

    Snorting Condoms Challenge on the Rise, Health Officials Declared

    Apr 2, 2018
  • Florida Woman Mommy Belly

    Florida Woman Mistook Labor Pains for Food Poisoning

    Mar 30, 2018
  • Surgical sponges.

    Japanese Surgeons Discovered Surgical Sponges in Women’s Abdomen

    Feb 23, 2018
  • British accent cards.

    Texas Woman Goes to Sleep, Wakes Up with British Accent

    Feb 13, 2018
  • Woodpeckers and CTE

    Woodpeckers Not Invulnerable to Brain Damage, New Study Suggests

    Feb 6, 2018
  • Gummy beart

    New Mexico School Students Intoxicated After Eating Marijuana-Laced Gummy Bears

    Jan 24, 2018
  • Tapeworm

    Fresno Docs Amazed by 5.5-Foot Tapeworm Man Removed from His Anus

    Jan 23, 2018
  • Fake eyelashes

    Canadian Woman Hospitalized Following Severe Allergic Reaction to Fake Eyelashes

    Jan 19, 2018
  • Tide pods challenge

    2017’s Darwin’s Award Goes to the Tide Pods Challenge

    Jan 16, 2018
  • Baby brain and pregnancy

    New Baby Brain Theory to Put a Cork on Past Speculations

    Jan 15, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Deals
  • Health
  • Science
  • Technology
  • United States
  • World

Copyright © 2018 capitalberg.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact