Patricia Inacio, PhD,  science writer—

The use of immunomodulatory therapy based on type 1 interferons (IFNs) may trigger neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), according to a new case report. Researchers in China described the case of a 24-year-old man diagnosed with the autoimmune disease after receiving treatment with IFN-alpha, a…

Constipation may be linked with pain due to nerve cell damage in people diagnosed with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) and the related disorder myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody disease (MOGAD), a study suggests. “Both symptoms were significantly more common among patients with a history of myelitis,” the researchers wrote of constipation…

People with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), but lacking anti-AQP4 and anti-MOG antibodies, show no signs of damage to astrocytes — nervous system cells attacked in NMOSD — when compared to those with anti-AQP4 antibodies. Those findings from a recent study suggest that the mechanisms underlying NMOSD symptoms in…

InnoCare Pharma will soon launch a Phase 2 clinical trial in China to test orelabrutinib, its oral investigational Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, to treat neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). The announcement comes after China’s National Medical Products Administration approved the company’s request to conduct such a trial,…

Merck KGaA will continue to advance CRD1 for the treatment of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) and generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), after the company acquired the therapy’s original developer, Chord Therapeutics. The investigational therapy is an oral cladribine product that works by reducing the number of immune cells, namely…

A committee of the European Medicines Agency has recommended approving Uplizna (inebilizumab-cdon) for adults with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) who test positive for aquaporin-4 water channel autoantibodies (AQP4-IgG). This recommendation from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, known as CHMP, will now be reviewed by…

Treatment with Horizon Therapeutics’ Uplizna (inebilizumab-cdon) was found safe and effective at reducing the frequency of attacks in African-American adults with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), according to a retrospective analysis of the N-MOmentum clinical trial. These findings were presented in a poster at the 15th World Congress…

More than half of the people with rare diseases and their caregivers, asked in a survey, were undecided or less than willing to be vaccinated for COVID-19 if a vaccine was approved under emergency use authorization instead of the routine process, the EveryLife Foundation for Rare Disease reports. These findings…

The EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases is accepting applications for a scholarship program that aims to help adults with a rare disease pursue personal goals through training and education. For a second year, the #RAREis Scholarship Fund — supported by Horizon Therapeutics – will award 35 one-time scholarships, each…

Treatment with Soliris (eculizumab) does not increase the risk of infections or serious infections among people with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) and antibodies against the protein aquaporin-4 (AQP4), even in those receiving accompanying immunosuppressive therapies. Those were the findings from a post hoc analysis of…