Could this be the beginning of the end to RRMS?

[Vikingquest]

Ok, so if revimmune With a follow up of copaxone will stop RRMS in 90% of patients and keep it in remission, is this going to be a game changer as soon as it's approved?

No one seems to be too bothered about it on this forum...

VQ

[ssmme]

Go to the revimmune thread and read it. Some people have had good outcomes and others not so good. Just as all ms treatments go nothing works for everyone. I believe that until a cause is discovered no blanket cure will be found - just band-aids.

[Vikingquest]

Yeah, but they have adjusted dosage and after treatment since then, fine tuning if you will. I think I am correct in pointing out that those who didn't feel the full benefit were mainly those who were transitioning or already secondary progressive? I think I am correct in saying that in RRMS it had a very positive effect on stopping disease progression and keeping it away with Copaxone.

It seems to me like this is a half-measure of the HSCT treatment, cheaper and less damaging to the body but less effective.

[scorpion]

Hey Vikingquest,

I read the recent Revimmune results and while they are encouraging there were a pretty small number of patients enrolled in the study. Most of us MS veterans are used to seeing inital results that are quite promising that down the road turn out to be overinflated data so that may be one of the reasons you do not see a lot of people overjoyed on this site. However I will say that ablating the immune system seems like a promising avenue of research and I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will continue to see positive results from future studies down the road! Take Care. Scorpion

[NHE]

Ok, so if revimmune With a follow up of copaxone will stop RRMS in 90% of patients and keep it in remission, is this going to be a game changer as soon as it's approved?

No one seems to be too bothered about it on this forum...

VQ

Here are some thoughts regarding Revimmune discussion at ThisIsMS...

Just a reminder. This is the rebooting protocol known as Revimmune that a few members have been through. If I remember correctly, ChrisHasMS went through it and so did Mel (see posts by Jamie) and maybe some others as well. ChrisHasMS' MS continued to progress and Mel was treated for CCSVI by Dr. Dake. I don't think we have heard from Mel in a while so I don't know how she's doing. Jamie's last post about Mel http://www.thisisms.com/ftopicp-99916.html#99916

NHE

[Vikingquest]

That's interesting because I read a few of Chrishasms' posts and he seemed to suggest that after two years out of revimmune he was in remission. Maybe I have misunderstood it. Also I would ask whether he took a drug afterwards, as this seems to be the thing which keeps your MS from coming back.

As I say, I am in no way an authority on this or what has happened to Chris since he had his revimmune treatment.

This is what he said:


"I had Hicy w/o any stem cell reintro because your bone marrow already has stem cells. Those alone can rebuild everything w/o needing your own cells.

I have no clue why they use stem cells. Neither did my docs at JH.

I had one little lesion post treatment, the smallest I ever had, it healed, and I have not had one in over 2 years. I have actually had lesion healing. "

He then went on to say that it has "little to do with his disability", so not sure that he experienced any improvement in his EDSS score after it, as this would suggest that he didn't. But what I think he is saying is that his progression has stopped.

Also, I would be interested in whether he had PPMS or SPMS as I think revimmune is less successfull in stopping the disease once it has transitioned out of an inflamatory disease.

[NHE]

That's interesting because I read a few of Chrishasms' posts and he seemed to suggest that after two years out of revimmune he was in remission. Maybe I have misunderstood it. Also I would ask whether he took a drug afterwards, as this seems to be the thing which keeps your MS from coming back.

I was using this post from Sept 2010 and interpretting it to mean that his MS was still progressing.

http://www.thisisms.com/forum/post133155.html#p133155


NHE

[rssugg]

we shall see - the FDA is set to approve Revimmune for treating MS (it has been approved for years and years for other things) before year end. They issued orphan status to protect Accentia's stake in development of the drug about a month or so ago - maybe six weeks now. By doing such, the FDA is basically stating that this should move forward.

If you go back and read the HiCy / Revimmune boards, the patients agreed to non-disclosures in some cases, if not all. All-in-all, they have had good results (some have had it twice, but it worked the second time).

I wonder if BG-12 (which the PHIII info will be released either tomorrow or next week at ECTRIMS) had patient non-disclosures as well? Investors in Biogen are poised to blow the roof off the MS game if the results of the CONFIRM study are still positive. It has been fast-tracked, so itll hit the market and take the largest portion of market share from other orals.

[dignan]

rssugg, I would love it if Revimmune was on the cusp of FDA approval, but unfortunately, Accentia hasn't even started the pivotal phase 3 trial(s) yet. It will probably take 1-2 years to recruit all the study participants, then another 2 years to run the trial(s), a few months for data compilation and analysis, then at least a few months for the FDA to ponder the data. So, in a perfect world, Revimmune could be about 3.5 years from approval, but probably more like 4-5 years. The orphan drug status was for another indication, not for MS. Accentia was seeking fast-track status from the FDA a few years back and I'm not sure if they got it or not. Even getting fast track status doesn't speed things up all that much, especially post Tysabri tragedy. The FDA plays it safe now.