Our immune systems are meant to keep us healthy, but sometimes they turn their fire on us, with devastating results. Immunotherapies can help defend against this ‘friendly fire’ – and even weaponise it in our defence.
A new drug based on decades of research at the University of Cambridge has today been approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for use in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Clinical trials have shown that Alemtuzumab, marketed under the name Lemtrada, reduces disease activity, limits the accumulation of further disability over time and may even allow some existing damage to recover.
Traumatic brain injury affects 10 million people a year worldwide and is the leading cause of death and disability in children and young adults. A new study will identify how to match treatments to patients, to achieve the best possible outcome for recovery.
Approval concludes nearly 40-year epic journey from fundamental research to discovery of an effective treatment for active relapsing multiple sclerosis
Alemtuzumab, a drug previously used to treat a type of leukaemia, shown to help people with early multiple sclerosis who relapsed on previous drugs as well as patients who had not yet been treated.
Phase III clinical trials for new MS drug very positive.
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