Dirucotide, an IV-administered drug designed to treat  patients with secondary-progressive M.S., has been given “fast track” status by the FDA, according to its manufacturer (BioMS Medical Corp).   The drug is currently being studies in four late-stage clinical trials, one of which is a Phase-III study in the United States.  The “fast track” designation can, potentially, speed the development and FDA review processes.

Want to invest in a market beleived to currently be worth 8-Billion dollars and predicted to grow at more than 10% a year?  Take a look at the companies that are researching new MS drugs.  That’s encouraging news for MS patients, as well as investors!

The pill is called Laquinimod and researchers hope that taking it once a day will reduce the number of exacerbations in patients with r/r MS.  A Phrase III study is currently recruiting patients.

Beth Robinson is a military wife. She also has Multiple Sclerosis. Tonight she’ll speak about both of those things from the podium at the Democratic National Convention. Look for Beth between 9:00pm and 10:00pm eastern time, right after Bill Clinton speaks.

There’s really no new information in this statement, but it’s the first the FDA has issued since two new cases of PML were diagnosed in Europe a few weeks ago.

A group of M.D.s says those the two, new cases of the brain disease PML that were diagnosed, last month, in two MS patients using Tysabri weren’t a surprise.  When the drug returned to the market, they tell a pharmaceutical research group, the FDA expected there would be more PML cases.

The health care research firm Avos Life Sciences, which studies evolving drug markets, predicts Tysabri will top $1-Billion in sales over the next six years.  This, even though some cases of the brain disease PML continue to be reported.  Avos says “the speed with which the (new) cases were identified and treated is a testament to the success of the risk-management plans for Tysabri in place in Europe and the U.S. “

The European Medicines Agency says it will investigate the two cases of PML reported two weeks ago in a pair of  Tysabri patients in Europe before deciding whether to require the drug’s labeling to be changed in Europe.

A company that’s been trying to develop cell therapy product to treat M.S. and other degenerative diseases thinks it’s found a treatment that may help prevent M.S. symptoms.

The study has only been done in a lab and, to a limited extent, with mice, but the company’s president says “This trial’s remarkable results demonstrated our PLX-MS cells’ ability to prevent the appearance of multiple sclerosis symptoms and showed the potential for our PLX cells to treat global autoimmune diseases.”