Low CD8+ T cell counts found with MS drug Tecfidera

[MSUK]

A recent study found that patients taking dimethyl fumarate (Tecfidera) had low counts of CD8+ T cells, though their overall levels of lymphocytes were within the normal range. The findings suggest that doctors may want to monitor specific lymphocyte levels in addition to doing full blood cell counts.

In November 2014, Biogen Idec confirmed its first case of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare brain infection, in a patient taking dimethyl fumarate (Tecfidera), and complications from the infection resulted in the patient’s death. The news sparked a warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and concern from both patients and physicians about how to prevent another case of PML....... Read More - http://www.ms-uk.org/tecfidera