Rituxan
 

If you haven't visited the Health News Headlines forum here at Neurotalk then please check it out. I wll warn you it's quite fast moving but has wonderful current health news.

One of the current articles is about Rituxan and MS Progression ---
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread39052.html

This is NOT new news. It was reported last year at the American Academy of Neurology conference in Boston.

In an average Phase 2 study 69 people received Rituximab and 35 people received placebo. They received 2 doses, separated by about 2 weeks.
They were observed for the next 48 weeks and got no further doses.
Data was very good, 91% reduction in new enhancing lesions (compare to 92% in Tysabri) and a fairly good relapse rate of 58% (compare to 67% in Tysabri)

No comparison with other drugs has been done. The study was small and short. With only 69 people in study, the lack of major adverse effects means nothing.

Rituxan eliminates B cells from the body for a time. PML has been reported multiple times with Rituxan. With the majority of cases seen in patients on other powerful meds or having lymphoma, relative risk determination is difficult. It's the mono vs. combo problem again.

DNA- the drug company who developed Rituxan, is NOT going through with ANY studies and does NOT plan to market Rituximab as an MS treatment.

( my thanks to a neurologist who originally posted the facts on another board. I have paraphrased his information here )