New treatment for RRMS listed on PBS
Diroximel fumarate (Vumerity), a next-generation oral fumarate treatment for relapsing-remitting MS has been listed on the PBS from 1 August.
Biogen Australia said in a statement that the new agent offers bioequivalent efficacy and safety to dimethyl fumarate but with greater tolerability and fewer gastrointestinal side effects.
In the phase 3 EVOLVE-MS-1 study, it has demonstrated less severe gastrointestinal events and fewer days of self-assessed gastrointestinal symptoms, fewer gastrointestinal adverse events, and lower discontinuation rates because of gastrointestinal adverse events than dimethyl fumarate.
Sydney neurologist Dr Todd Hardy said in the statement that as well as being better tolerated, the drug has a faster washout period which provides more flexibility for patients considering pregnancy.
“Living with MS can be relentless, challenging and debilitating, but access to Vumerity will hopefully help support people to embrace the opportunities life can present,” he said.
Age cut-off defined for Early Onset PD
The term Early Onset Parkinson Disease (EOPD) should be used in place of Young Onset Parkinson Disease (YOPD) for people with age at onset after the age of 21 years but before the usual age onset for PD, according to the Taskforce on EOPD.
In a review aimed at clarifying the nomenclature of EOPD/YOPD, the taskforce found that consensus was lacking and the reported maximal age for EOPD/YOPD has varied from 40 to 60 years, leading to lack of uniformity in published studies and difficulty in harmonisation of data.
They noted that there had been a shift from the use of YOPD towards EOPD in the literature, motivated by an attempt to avoid age-related stigmatization of patients.
They suggested that EOPD be adopted as the preferred nomenclature and that future research should adopt the standard of using 50 or 51 years as cut off. For age at onset, as already used by most countries.