There’s currently no cure for multiple sclerosis (MS), but treatment can help manage it. In recent years, new medications have become available to help slow the progression of the disease and relieve symptoms.

Researchers continue to develop new treatments and learn more about the causes and risk factors of this disease.

Read on to learn about some of the latest treatment breakthroughs and promising avenues of research.

Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are the main group of medications used to treat MS. To date, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approvedmore than a dozenDMTs for different types of MS.

Most recently, the FDA has approved:

  • Ocrelizumab (Ocrevus).It treats relapsing forms of MS and primary progressive MS (PPMS). It’s the first DMT to be approved to treat PPMS and the only one approved for all four types of MS.
  • Fingolimod (Gilenya).It treats pediatric MS. It was already approved for adults. In 2018, it became the first DMT to be approved for children .
  • Cladribine (Mavenclad).It’sapprovedto treat relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and active secondary progressive MS (SPMS).
  • Siponimod (Mayzent).It’sapprovedto treat RRMS, active SPMS, and clinically isolated syndrome (CIS). Ina phase 3 clinical trial, siponimod effectively reduced the rate of relapse in people with active SPMS. Compared with a placebo, it cut the relapse rate in half.
  • Diroximel fumarate (Vumerity).这种药物是approvedto treat RRMS, active SPMS, and CIS. It’s similar to dimethyl fumarate (Tecfidera), an older DMT. However, it causes fewer gastrointestinal side effects.
  • Ozanimod (Zeposia).这种药物是approvedto treat CIS, RRMS, and active SPMS. It’s the newest DMT to be added to the market and was FDA approved in March 2020.
  • Ponesimod (Ponvory).TheFDA批准this drug in March 2021. Ponvory has been shown to reduce annual relapses for relapsing types of MS by 30.5 percent when compared with teriflunomide (Aubagio).

While new treatments have been approved, another medication has been removed from pharmacy shelves.

In March 2018, daclizumab (Zinbryta) was退出市场around the world. This drug is no longer available to treat MS.

Several other medications are working their way through the research pipeline. In recent studies, some of these medications have shown promise for treating MS.

For example:

  • The results of a第2阶段临床试验表明ibudilast可能有助于减少MS患者的残疾进展。为了了解有关这种药物的更多信息，制造商计划进行3期临床试验。
  • 一个小型2017年研究suggest that clemastine fumarate might help restore the protective coating around nerves in people with relapsing forms of MS. This oral antihistamine is currently available over the counter, but not in the dose used in the clinical trial. More research is needed to study its potential benefits and risks for treating MS.
  • Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) therapy is a promising new treatment for MS that’s currently being studied. It’s not currently approved, but interest is growing in the field, and it’s beingevaluated in clinical trials.

These are only a few of the treatments currently being studied. To learn about current and future clinical trials for MS, visitClinicalTrials.gov.

Thanks to the development of new medications for MS, people have a growing number of treatment options to choose from.

To help guide their decisions, scientists are using large databases and statistical analyses to try to pinpoint the best treatment options for different people.

Eventually, this research might help patients and doctors learn which treatments are most likely to work for them.

为了了解MS的原因和危险因素，遗传学家和其他科学家正在为线索梳理人类基因组。

Members of the International MS Genetics Consortium have identified more than 200 genetic variants associated with MS. For example, a2018 studyidentified four new genes linked to the condition.

最终，这样的发现可能有助于科学家制定新的策略和工具来预测，预防和治疗MS。

Scientists have also研究the role that bacteria and other microbes in our gut might play in the development and progression of MS. This community of bacteria is known as our gut microbiome.

Not all bacteria are harmful. In fact, many “friendly” bacteria live in our bodies and help regulate our immune system.

When the balance of bacteria in our bodies is off, it can lead to inflammation. This might contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases, including MS.

对肠道微生物组的研究可能有助于科学家了解人们为什么以及如何发展MS。它还可以为新的治疗方法铺平道路，包括饮食干预措施和其他疗法。

Scientists continue to gain new insight into the risk factors and causes of MS as well as potential treatment strategies.

New medications have been approved recently, and some have shown promise in clinical trials.

These advancements are helping improve the health and well-being of the many people who live with this condition while bolstering hopes for a potential cure.