Luc Truyen, MD, PhD: Advantages of Ponesimod as an S1P Modulator

"In the S1P class, the effects are that it starts rapidly, but they also stop rapidly. Within 1 week, lymphocytes are back to normal.”

Recent data published at MS Virtual 2020, the 8th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meeting, September 11-13, 2020, revealed that long-term treatment with ponesimod 20 mg resulted in consistently low levels of disease activity across relevant clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcomes in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). The results of the study add to the already robust profile of ponesimod, which has shown efficacy against FDA-approved teriflunomide (Aubagio; Sanofi) in previous phase 3 studies.

Ponesimod, a selective sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor-1 (S1P) modulator, is designed to inhibit S1P protein activity, and in doing so, is believed to reduce the number of circulating lymphocytes that can cross the blood-brain barrier. Luc Truyen, MD, PhD, global head, Development and External Affairs-Neuroscience, Janssen Pharmaceutical, feels as though ponesimod’s design stands out among other MS treatments.

The MS treatment landscape has undergone a number of additions in the past decade and ponesimod could be the next one with its new drug application which was filed in March 2020. Truyen sat down with NeurologyLive to discuss the positives of a robust MS treatment landscape and why ponesimod stands above the rest.