Demyelinating Diseases

The clinical trial is intended to assess for clinical evidence of Clemastine Fumarate as a myelin repair therapy in patients with acute inflammatory injury-causing demyelination as measured by multi-parametric MRI assessments. No reparative therapies exist for the treatment of acute demyelinating lesions. Clemastine fumarate was identified along with a series of other antimuscarinic medications as a potential remyelinating agent using the micropillar screen (BIMA) developed at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Following in vivo validation, an FDA IND exemption was granted to investigate clemastine for the treatment of multiple sclerosis in the context of chronic optic neuropathy. That pilot study was recently completed and is the first randomized control trial documenting efficacy for a putative remyelinating agent for the treatment of MS. The preselected primary efficacy endpoint (visual evoked potential) was met and a strong trend to benefit was seen for the principal secondary endpoint assessing function (low contrast visual acuity). That trial number was 13-11577. This study seeks to follow up on that study and examine clemastine fumarate's protective and reparative effects in the context of acute demyelinating brain lesions as imaged by multi-parametric MRI assessments. The investigators will be assessing the effects of clemastine fumarate as a remyelinating therapy and assessing its effect on MRI metrics of lesions found in patients with a confirmed diagnosis of acute inflammatory injury-causing demyelination. In addition to using conventional multi-parametric MRI assessments, this study will also evaluate a new MRI technique called Ultrashort Echo Time (UTE) MRI to assess the effects of clemastine fumarate as a remyelinating therapy of acute lesions found in patients with a confirmed diagnosis of acute inflammatory injury-causing demyelination and compare it to the other assessments.

The goal of this observational study is to create a single macro registry system with data collection on common clinical features, grouping the different rare diseases (RD). Moreover, the specific goals are to generate an alert system for possible cases of RD with data from the electronic medical record, to describe the occurrence of RD in the evaluated population, to characterize the population, to describe patterns of diagnosis and treatment of RD present at the time, and to explore patient-reported outcomes.

Ultimately improve the care of patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (1st cause of acquired non-traumatic disability in adults) and NMO spectrum diseases by using more efficient MRI sequences than the FLAIR sequence commonly used in detection of optic neuritis. In the literature, many studies have already focused on comparing the sensitivity of detection of white matter demyelination plaques using FLAIR, PSIR or DIR sequences. Some authors have shown better sensitivity of the PSIR sequence in the detection of demyelinating lesions of the marrow in multiple sclerosis compared to conventional sequences. Others have shown better performance of the combined use of PSIR and DIR sequences compared to the FLAIR sequence in the detection of cortical lesions in multiple sclerosis. However, in the context of optic neuritis, few comparative studies comparing these three sequences have been carried out: A 2022 study showed better diagnostic sensitivity of optic neuritis of the DIR sequence compared to the FLAIR sequence. A possible better diagnostic performance of a sequence not used in current practice in the detection of optic neuritis (PSIR and DIR sequences), would be possible to justify their use on a larger scale and ultimately improve patient care.

Rationale: Ocrelizumab is widely and effectively used to treat relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS). Phase II studies and data from large patient cohorts indicate that rituximab, another anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, is probably equally effective and safe as ocrelizumab in the treatment of RMS. An advantage of rituximab is a considerably lower price. Therefore we will start a study aimed at demonstrating non-inferiority of rituximab compared to ocrelizumab in RMS. If non-inferiority of rituximab can be shown, important reductions in the cost of treatment of RMS will be possible, without loss of efficacy. Objective: Evaluating the efficacy and safety of ritixumab compared to ocrelizumab in the treatmens of RMS. Study design: Randomized double blind multi-centre non-inferiority study of rituximab compared to ocrelizumab in 200 patients with RMS. The trial duration will be 30 months Study population: The study population consists of 200 adult RMS patiens with an indication to start anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody treatment. Intervention: Patients will be randomized 1:1 into the standard group (ocrelizumab treatment) or the experimental group (rituximab treatment). Main study parameters: To conclude non-inferiority of rituximab there will be one primary endpoint: the proportion of patients free of inflammatory disease activity (defined as: new or enlarged T2 lesions) between week 24 (M6) and week 96 (M24) of treatment in each arm. Secondary trial endpoints are presence and number of clinical relapses,T2 and contrast enhancing lesion volumes, brain volume and brain volume changes, disease progression (defined as clinically relevant change on any of the measures: EDSS, T25FW, 9HPT, SDMT), biochemical parameters such as lipidomics and neurofilament light (NfL), immunological parameters, safety as measured by the number of (serious) adverse events ((S)AE), quality of life (EQ-5D-L) and treatment satisfaction (TSQM) and patient reported measures of MS impact (MSIS-29) and well-being (questionnaire on physical complaints) Nature and extent of the burden and risk: Patients included in this study will be treated and monitored by MRI, clinical tests and laboratory tests according to existing protocols and will not be exposed to extra or unknown risks. They will have extra annual questionnaires and larger blood samples at some time points. There is extensive experience with both rituximab and ocrelizumab as efficacious and safe treatments of RMS.