Marco Meglio, Assistant Managing Editor for NeurologyLive, has been with the team since October 2019. Follow him on Twitter @marcomeglio1 or email him at mmeglio@neurologylive.com
First Widely Accessible Alzheimer Disease Blood Test Reaches Clinic
Based on data from a study of 686 patients with subjective cognitive impairment or dementia, the PrecivityAD blood test correctly identified brain amyloid plaque status in 86% of the patients.
New ICD-10 Codes Announced for Dravet Syndrome
The new codes have broader implications in helping clinicians understand the morbidity and mortality related to the disorder.
NeuroVoices: Joe Verghese, MBBS, MS, on Motor Presentations in Early Dementia
Joe Verghese, MBBS, MS, details the research being conducted on motoric cognitive risk syndrome and noninvasive brain stimulation in Alzheimer disease.
Parkinson’s Foundation Announces Funding for Parkinson Disease Genetic Testing Initiative
Findings from PD GENEration will contribute to the biological understanding of the disease and help researchers assess the impact of each mutation.
Continuous Early Ocrelizumab Provides Greater Sustained Benefits in Primary Progressive MS
The percent change from baseline was lower in those who initiated ocrelizumab early than those initially on placebo for both T2 lesion volume and T1 hypointense lesion volume.
Genetic Risk for Alzheimer Disease Plays Role in Speech-In-Noise Hearing
The findings suggest that poor speech-in-noise hearing may be an early marker of underlying dementia processes.
Caring for Patients With Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome During COVID-19
Anup Patel, MD, section chief of pediatric neurology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, explained how care for patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome has changed throughout the pandemic.
Cognitive Function Domains Not Improved With Lowered Systolic Blood Pressure
The researchers concluded that the effect of lowered blood pressure might not be evident in specific domains of cognitive function, but instead distributed across multiple domains.
Blarcamesine Safe in Phase 2 Parkinson Disease Dementia Study
The company is planning a pivotal trial of blarcamesine in Parkinson disease dementia after submitting results of the phase 2 study to the FDA for regulatory guidance.
Why an Inclusive Patient Population Is Important for the Future of DMD Treatment
In part 2 of this interview, Elias Kouchakji, MD, gives perspective on pamrevlumab’s unique pathway as a Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment nearing the end of the clinical pipeline.
Recommendations Published for Stem Cell Transplant in Multiple Sclerosis
The authors noted that research is still needed to establish standards for cell mobilization and immune-conditioning regimens.
NeuroVoices: Jennifer Frontera, MD, on New COVID-19 Data
The professor of neurology at the NYU Langone Grossman School of Medicine discussed a recent study she and colleagues conducted on new neurological disorders in patients with COVID-19.
Diazepam Non-Aqueous Injection Wins Fast Track for Treatment of Acute Repetitive Seizures
The FDA told Xeris that it could advance diazepam directly into a phase 3 registration study for both pediatric and adult patients with epilepsy after reviewing phase 1b results.
FDA Issues Complete Response Letter for Zolmitriptan
Zosano plans to request a Type A meeting with the FDA to discuss strategies to address the FDA’s comments regarding the new drug application.
Evobrutinib Paves the Way for BTK Inhibitors in Multiple Sclerosis
On the heels of successful long-term data, evobrutinib seeks to maintain its high efficacy in 2 pivotal phase 3 clinical trials.
JZP-258 Continues Show of Efficacy in Treating Cataplexy
Statistically significant worsening on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale was observed in patients randomized to placebo compared to participants who received JZP-258.
DaxibotulinumtoxinA Meets Primary End Point in Cervical Dystonia Study
Study results suggest daxibotulinumtoxinA has the potential to reduce the frequency of cervical dystonia treatments by up to 50% annually.
Pamrevlumab Aims to Join Growing DMD Treatment Landscape
Elias Kouchakji, MD, provides details of the phase 3 LELANTOS study of novel antibody pamrevlumab for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Skin A-Synuclein May Accurately Diagnose Parkinson Disease, Other Synucleinopathies
The use of real-time quaking-induced conversion and protein misfolding cyclic amplification assays accurately allowed researchers to differentiate synucleinopathies from nonsynucleinopathies.
Fremanezumab Efficacy Shows Consistency Across Monthly, Quarterly Dosing Regimens
Decreases in weekly migraine days remained steady during the last 2 weeks of the first quarter, with a similar maintenance of response during the second quarter.
COVID-19 Associated With New Neurologic Disorders, Increased Risk of In-Hospital Mortality
Patients with neurologic disorders were more often older, male, white, hypertensive, diabetic, intubated, and had higher sequential organ failure assessment scores.
FDA Grants Rare Pediatric Disease Designation to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Treatment Givinostat
Italfarmaco is expected to report topline data from the phase 3 EPYDIS trial in June 2022.
CGRP Monoclonal Antibodies Associated With Improved Migraine Prevention, Patient-Reported Outcomes
The largest real-world study of patient-reported outcomes in people with migraine demonstrated the positive benefits that the CGRP mAbs drug class has had on migraine.
NDA Submitted for Topiramate Oral Solution for 3 Indications
Topiramate oral solution is Eton’s third neurology product candidate submitted to the FDA, this time seeking 3 indications.
Remote Ischemic Post-Conditioning Shows Significant Benefit With IVT
Investigators noted changes in plasma vascular endothelial growth factor and S100 ß levels indicate a protection-based mechanism derived from the combined treatment.
Lasmiditan Improves Pain Freedom in Migraine Attacks
Patients on lasmiditan had 3.8–7.2 times greater odds of achieving pain freedom at 2 hours compared to placebo in at least 2 out of 3 migraine attacks.
Neflamapimod Meets Primary End Point in Dementia With Lewy Bodies
Phase 2 results demonstrated proof-of-concept for treatment with neflamapimod, suggesting the need for a phase 3 study in the coming future.
Investigational New Drug Application Accepted for Mesdopetam in Parkinson Disease
The upcoming phase 2b/3 study of mesdopetam in patients with Parkinson disease is set after the results of previous successful phase 1, phase 2a, and phase 2 studies.
Zolgensma Continues to Show Therapeutic Benefit in SMA Type 1
Nearly two-thirds of patients achieved developmental motor milestones not observed in the natural history of SMA Type 1 at a mean duration of follow-up of 10.6 months.
Alzheimer Disease Research: What’s New and What’s Next?
James Leverenz, MD, director of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health at Cleveland Clinic, discussed the strides made in Alzheimer disease research and the importance of diversity in research populations.