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   DIR Return to: TECFIDERA (dimethyl fumarate, BG-12, Fumaderm)
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       #Post#: 993--------------------------------------------------
       (ECTRIMS) Tecfidera better than placebo on composite disability 
       measure
       By: agate Date: November 4, 2015, 8:40 pm
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       From DGNews (DocGuide), November 3, 2015:
       [quote]Dimethyl Fumarate Is Superior to Placebo on Composite
       Disability Measure
       : Presented at ECTRIMS
       By Jill Stein
       BARCELONA -- October 8, 2015 -- Delayed-release dimethyl
       fumarate (DMF) provides significant clinical benefits over
       placebo on composite measures of clinical disability progression
       in patients with multiple sclerosis, according to results of an
       analysis of 2 phase 3 studies presented at the 2015 Annual
       Meeting of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in
       Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS).
       Amit Bar-Or, MD, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill
       University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and colleagues assessed
       the effect of DMF twice daily on composite measures of sustained
       clinical disability progression in an integrated analysis of the
       phase 3 DEFINE and CONFIRM studies of relapsing-remitting MS.
       While delayed-release DMF significantly reduced the risk of
       sustained disability progression as assessed by the Expanded
       Disability Status Scale (EDSS) compared with placebo, EDSS
       progression alone may not capture all aspects of disability, the
       authors pointed out in their poster presentation here on October
       8.
       In fact, EDSS progression is inherently subjective, as it is
       based on the standard neurological examination, and does not
       differentiate between different contributors to motor
       disabilities. In addition, it inadequately captures
       non-ambulation-related contributors to patient disability such
       as vision and cognition, particularly in those patients with an
       EDSS in the range of 4.0 to 4.5, who are fully ambulatory
       without aid.
       In the present study, the researchers tested the use of a
       functional composite outcome measure that allows for the capture
       of potentially clinically relevant sustained worsening across
       multiple neuro-performance components.
       The integrated intent-to-treat population included 771 and 769
       subjects receiving placebo or DMF twice daily, respectively.
       At 2 years, DMF twice daily significantly reduced the risk of
       12- or 24-week sustained disability progression on the composite
       measure, including EDSS or disability as measured by the timed
       25-foot walk or 9-hole peg test compared with placebo.
       DMF twice daily significantly reduced the risk of disability
       progression on the full composite, measured by any of the
       disability outcomes, for 12-week (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.85; P =
       .0489) or 24-week (HR = 0.79); P = .0231) sustained disability
       progression compared with placebo.
       .
       The researchers observed significant reductions with DMF twice
       daily compared with placebo in an analysis of 12- or 24-week
       sustained disability progression including EDSS or the worsening
       of 1 of the following: timed 25-foot walk; 9-hole peg test for
       12-week sustained disability progression only; paced auditory
       serial addition test; or a visual function test.
       ________________________
       Funding for this study was provided by Biogen, Boston,
       Massachusetts.
       [Presentation title: Efficacy of Delayed-Release Dimethyl
       Fumarate for Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Using a
       Composite Measure of Disability: Integrated Analysis of the
       Phase 3 DEFINE and CONFIRM studies Abstract P628][/quote]
       The article can be seen here
  HTML http://www.docguide.com/dimethyl-fumarate-superior-placebo-composite-disability-measure.
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