Patient-Centered Focus Driving

EP: 1.Overview of Multiple Sclerosis Epidemiology

EP: 2.MS Disease Activity Versus Inactivity

EP: 3.Financial Burden for Patients Diagnosed with MS

EP: 4.Current MS Treatment Paradigms

EP: 5.Early Treatment and Frontline Therapies for Patients with MS

EP: 6.Mitigating Clinical Inertia in MS Treatment Through Payer-Provider Collaboration

EP: 7.Switching Agents Due to Underwhelming MS Treatment Response Rates

EP: 8.Bruton Kinase Inhibitors (BTKi) Use in MS Treatment

EP: 9.Utilizing BTK Inhibitors to Address Unmet Needs in MS

EP: 10.Updates in MS Clinical Trials

EP: 11.Overall Treatment Objectives for Patients with MS

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EP: 12.Patient-Centered Focus Driving

Ryan Haumschild, PharmD, MS, MBA: Well, thanks to all of you for this rich, informative discussion. Before we conclude, I’d like to get final thoughts from each of you. Maybe Dr Hickman we can start with you. What are some final thoughts that you have based on today’s discussion for our viewing audience?

Amanda Hickman, PharmD, MPH, MSCS: I would say I’m very excited to see what data comes out from these phase 3 trials. I believe the first rounds of data are supposed to be published in late 2023, potentially looking at release in 2024, if things go well. And I’d love to move towards including more of the disability in the MS [multiple sclerosis] symptom burden in our trials, beyond just the lesion burden.

Ryan Haumschild, PharmD, MS, MBA: Dana, you’ve brought great information from a payer and managed care perspective, and we’ve really appreciated it. I think it really complemented the work that we’re trying to achieve in patient care. If you could, provide us with some final thoughts.

Dana McCormick, RPh: I think one of my final thoughts is the more we have conversations like this, and make it available for our physician community, payer community, and patient advocacy communities that are working with patients that are living with MS, the better we are all going to be together. Again, our end goal is to take care of the patient. The more communication we have, and the more conversations like this we have, I feel will get us all to more of the same level about where we’re thinking about things, how we’re thinking about things, and be better positioned to help support the patient and incorporate new therapies and not put barriers in place that is preventing patients from obtaining care when they need it, for the appropriate medication. So, again, I love having these conversations. I think they’re super important and will bring real value to patients.

Ryan Haumschild, PharmD, MS, MBA: Dr Williams, we hit on a lot of great things today, diversity of clinical trials, starting to continue to grow the importance of that, but even diversity of treatment, and diversity of the therapeutic options. I’d love to hear your final thoughts today based on our discussion.

Mitzi Joi Williams, MD, FAAN: Oh, we’ve discussed so much, and I have so many thoughts. But I think if I had one thought I would say collaboration is the key to moving forward. Collaboration amongst providers, payers, and advocacy organizations to make sure that we’re getting the right treatment to the right patient and collaboration in health care teams. Collaborating with our patients, the individuals who are living with this condition every day, to make sure that we’re not only doing the right type of research, but that we’re looking at the right outcomes, and that we’re making sure that we’re not just affecting the disease but affecting the person on a day-to-day basis. So, collaboration. That would be my word for the day.

Ryan Haumschild, PharmD, MS, MBA: I love it. That’s what it's all about. And Amanda, you continue to advocate on behalf of patients, engaging them in the journey, and providing valuable feedback as we develop new therapeutic approaches that can really benefit the patient. [I’d] love to hear your final thoughts as well.

Amanda Montague, Ed.M.: I’m going to sound like an echo chamber with all of these wonderful people. But I think, as we look at this panel, I think it proves the point that it takes a village and at the end of the day all of us want to improve patient outcomes, and that means keeping the patient at the center of what we all do. I think it’s an extraordinarily hopeful and exciting time for the MS community. There is a lot to be excited about, and when we can find the opportunities to work together, cross collaborate, I think we are doing all of our patients a great service.

Ryan Haumschild, PharmD, MS, MBA: Thank you again. And to our viewing audience, we hope that you found this AJMC® Peer Exchange to be useful and informative.

Transcript edited for clarity.