Two manufacturer sponsored phase III trials suggest that alemtuzumab, an anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody that is licensed to treat leukaemia, may help control multiple sclerosis. Both trials lasted two years and compared alemtuzumab with interferon beta-1a, which is considered first line treatment. One trial looked at 563 patients who had not yet undergone treatment for multiple sclerosis, wherea...

background and aims: chronic hepatitis c is one of the most important etiologies of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. clinical condition of hepatic patients and the outcome of chemotherapy are under impact of hepatitis c virus (hcv) genotypes. therefore, hcv genotyping is important for prediction of success of chemotherapy and progression of liver diseases. methods: in this arti...

Interferon (INF) beta 1a 22 or 44 mug (Rebif((R))) administered s.c. 3 times a week (t.i.w) is a well established immunomodulating treatment for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). This review focuses on its mechanisms of action, evidence of efficacy, safety, and tolerability. Several pharmacodynamic properties explain the immunomodulatory actions of INF beta 1a 22 or 44 mug s.c. t.i...

Objectives: To use health economic modeling techniques to quantify and compare the clinical and economic outcomes associated with the use of subcutaneous interferon beta-1a (scIFNβ 1a) vs. intramuscular interferon beta-1a (imIFNβ 1a) over 2 years in the management of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) from a US health care payer perspective. MethOds: The 2-year decision analytic model w...

BACKGROUND African Americans (AAs) with multiple sclerosis (MS) seem to have a more severe disease course than white Americans (WAs). To our knowledge, it is not known to what extent treatment with interferon beta-1a will effect the MS disease course within the AA population. OBJECTIVE To compare the response to treatment with interferon beta-1a between AA and WA MS patients. DESIGN This is...

Multiple sclerosis is a disease with a potentially severe prognosis and epidemiologically increasing. Interferon beta 1a is a very useful maintenance therapy widely used by neurologists. In the literature, there are several case reports of  hypersensitivity reactions. In this case report we describe an anaphylactic IgE mediated reaction to interferon beta 1a. We also describe, for the first tim...

BACKGROUND Patient adherence to treatment is key to preventing the worsening of neurological disability in multiple sclerosis (MS). The RebiSmart® autoinjector facilitates self-administration of subcutaneous interferon β-1a (sc IFN β-1a) and records objective adherence data. The CORE study was undertaken to evaluate the relationship between subjectively reported and objective adherence of MS pa...

Alemtuzumab (previously known as Campath(®)) is a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against the CD52 antigen on mature lymphocytes that results in lymphopenia and subsequent modification of the immune repertoire. Here we explore evidence for its efficacy and safety in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. One Phase II and two Phase III trials of alemtuzumab versus active comparator (inte...