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I think this combo is in trials. It is an approach being examined at a neurological clinic in Liverpool, England.


COPAXONE(R) Treatment over Two Years after Short Term Induction with Mitoxantrone Provided Sustained Benefits to Active Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients 04 May 2007

Increased Efficacy on MRI and Clinical Outcomes Achieved at 15 Months Was Sustained for 24 Months in Follow-up Study.

New data have demonstrated that relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients treated with COPAXONE® (glatiramer acetate injection) following brief immunosuppression with mitoxantrone experienced a 90 percent reduction in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-monitored disease activity compared to their baseline. These benefits were achieved early on and were sustained throughout the 24-month study period. These long-term data were consistent with the 15-month initial results of this study, previously presented at an international meeting on multiple sclerosis (MS), which demonstrated that the induction treatment strategy was more effective than COPAXONE® alone on reducing relapses and MRI measures of disease activity (p=0.0147). Treatment with COPAXONE® after induction with mitoxantrone remained safe and effective throughout the treatment period.

These new findings were presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) along with new confirming MRI findings from the 15-month study, which showed that the decreases in clinical and MRI markers of disease activity, were accompanied by favourable effects on disease burden and irreversible brain tissue damage as shown by significant decreases in the accumulation of lesion load, and significant reduction in the proportion of lesions evolving into chronic black holes.

"This combination therapy is emerging as a promising treatment option for patients who have active RRMS, or who are not responding optimally to traditional first-line therapies," said Tim Vollmer, M.D., Director, Neuroimmunology Program, Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center and the primary investigator in this study. "This study builds on earlier studies that demonstrate the effect of COPAXONE® on disease activity and inflammation in the central nervous system of RRMS patients," he added.

Data analysis surrounding the mode of action of this novel treatment strategy was also presented at the AAN, in which researchers attributed the benefit of the combination of therapies to the combined anti-inflammatory effect of COPAXONE® and mitoxantrone.

"These data shed new light on the concept of treating MS by first suppressing the auto-aggressive immune system with an immunosuppressant, and then favourably modifying its activity with an immunomodulator such as COPAXONE®," said Amit Bar-Or, M.D., FRCPC, assistant professor, Director of the Experimental Therapeutics at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) and primary investigator of the immunological study.

Source: Teva Neuroscience (04/05/07)