This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Hey all,

Has anyone seen this clip I received from WebMD? It talks about a new vacine called Neuro Vax. Has anyone heard of it or tried it?

http://www.webmd.com/content/pages/26/115077.htm?ecd=wnl_mls_010807

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Karen (OneEyeBlind)

* I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it!

Yep, Neurovax looks like a potentially promising new treatment. They are just starting up a large phase II trial right now I think. Here are links to a few other posts on Neurovax over the last 9 months or so:

http://www.thisisms.com/ftopict-3071-neurovax.html

http://www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2322-neurovax.html

http://www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2275-neurovax.html

I highly recommend doing some goggling on FOXP3 and Treg cells to better understand that this potential treatment is. I'm not sure that vaccine is quite the best description. napay

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My Starting Point
Understanding MS 101: Doctor Talk and People Talk<br /><br />

I also think Neurovax may have started here and has been tweaked in the intervening years.

Sharon

this sort of thing sounds like we would be best served if Neurovax and Tovaxin researches could talk openly (ie no corprate secrets).

Thanks for responding. Has anyone heard when the studies will conclude and when it is estimated to be available to the general public? Is there anyone out there considering trying it when it is made available?

I mean they are obviously trying to market it already by sending the clip out via email. Has anyone been involved in the study that can comment on it?

Just curious...

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Karen (OneEyeBlind)

* I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it!

Based on this:

October 10, 2006 - PRNewswire-FirstCall - The Immune Response Corporation today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Accelsiors CRO & Consultancy Services, a clinical research organization (CRO) with extensive experience in conducting multiple sclerosis (MS) trials, to oversee the 200-patient Phase II trial of NeuroVax, an investigational T-cell receptor (TCR) peptide vaccine for the treatment of MS.


Based on the above, I would guess that a phase III trial won't start until 2009 at the earliest. They have to recruit enough patients for it, then let it run for 2 years, so IF it successfully gets through phase II and phase III, it might be available by 2012 ish.

Hey dignan, I know info is skimpy so speculation on your part is acceptible.

I'm trying to figure out what this stuff is and can't. Even though it's called a vaccine I'm wondering if it would be considered a "drug" or chemical compilation, as compared to Tovaxin being an alteration of part of the patient's blood.

From what I can tell it seems that this neurovax isn't patient specific as is Tovaxin, which not being patient specific would have it's own benefits, if true, but if it is a chemical compilation, might be more likely to have short or long term side effects than reintroducing something made from your own blood.

Of course all of that is gross speculation on my part since there isn't much info to go on, but does any of that seem logical from what you've read?

Bob

I tried searching for US trials but found nothing. Are they currently recruiting in Eastern Europe only? Also, if anyone would care to translate information on how this stuff works into spoken English I would greatly appreciate it!

Bob, I don't have a clue really, but I had to poke around a little, since you asked.

This page from the Immune Response Corp's website explained it in more detail than I could really understand:

http://www.imnr.com/pipeline/pipeline_m ... xworks.htm


If that's not good enough, this paper is about neurovax too:

http://www.immunetolerance.org/research ... S_2005.pdf

there's interest in this.

Ok, While one can never know what can be learned in collaboration, I can tell you that Tovaxin and Neurovax are very different.

Tovaxin has been developed from the perspective that the immune system is too active and parts of it need to be stopped.

Neurovax has been developed from the perspective that the natural stop signs in the immune system are not working properly thereby allowing all the extra activity.

These sound much the same, but careful reaqding will show that the cells that are being targetted are different and the theory behind the concepts require slightly different thinking about what casues MS.

Here's a link to my 102 post. The part about Regulatory Cells in part 3 1/2 has a fair about of info about this stuff. napay's 102 post

I just hope that one of these two methods will be found to deal with what ever the issue is that maintains the status of MS in the body. napay

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My Starting Point
Understanding MS 101: Doctor Talk and People Talk<br /><br />

Thanks dignan, especially for the pdf file. I'm going to have to read it a few times for it to sink in but it's got a ton of information.

Thanks NAPAY. I guess I'm going to have to spend a little more time on this one to fully understand it.
Bob