BTK Inhibitors' Rationale and Potential Role in Multiple Sclerosis Treatment
July 16th 2024Heidi Crayton, MD, discusses the rationale for investigating Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKis) as a treatment for patients with multiple sclerosis and the current stage of development for evobrutinib, tolebrutinib, and other BTKis.
Examining Challenges with Drug Switching and Step Therapy in MS Treatment
July 9th 2024Key opinion leaders discuss the challenges associated with step therapy requirements after initially selecting a drug class, the patient factors considered when deciding to switch a patient with non-relapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis to a different therapy, and whether payers commonly employ step therapy between different drug classes.
MS Treatment Guidelines: Expert Insights on Updates and Decision-Making
July 2nd 2024Heidi Crayton, MD, and Maria Lopes, MD, discuss the most recent 2018 guidelines for multiple sclerosis treatment, emphasizing the need for updated guidelines, particularly in the payer space, to ensure coverage criteria for MS medications, and they also consider the factors that influence their decision-making process when selecting therapies for patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis.
The Economic Burden and Main Drivers of Healthcare Resource Utilization in RSV
July 1st 2024Focusing on the economic burden of RSV, the panel discusses financial considerations for multiple patient populations, highlighting hospitalization costs and the main drivers of healthcare resource utilization.
Patient Satisfaction: Opportunity for Better Multiple Sclerosis Therapies
June 21st 2024Experts in multiple sclerosis discuss overall patient satisfaction with current disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis, highlighting the need for more therapies that stave off decline and disease progression.
Assessing Limitations, Costs, Mobility and Cognition in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
June 15th 2024Heidi Crayton, MD, and Maria Lopes, MD, discuss the limitations of using relapse rates as a critical endpoint in trials for patients with non-relapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis experiencing disease progression without relapse, explore methods to assess therapeutic benefit in this population, examine the relationship between cost of care and disease severity, and highlight the impact of decreased mobility and cognition on MS patients along with strategies for improvement.
Multiple Sclerosis: Impact, Types, Pathophysiology, and Progression
June 15th 2024Heidi Crayton, MD, and Maria Lopes, MD, discuss the impact of multiple sclerosis on patients, families, and caregivers, differentiate relapsing forms (relapsing-remitting and primary progressive) from non-relapsing forms (non-relapsing secondary progressive) in clinical practice, and highlight the key pathophysiological features of relapsing multiple sclerosis and the impact of progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) after an initial demyelinating event.