Unmet Needs in the Multiple Sclerosis Community: Luc Truyen, MD, PhD

"It’s some of the same analogy I use in prostate cancer, where all of a sudden, the microenvironment became a very important thing to look at.”

Although there are a number of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), patients still deal with a wide array of issues impacting their quality of life. They may experience numbness or weakness in parts of their limbs, as well as electric-shock sensations that can occur with certain neck movements, and tremors.

Other symptoms of MS include slurred speech, fatigue, dizziness, tingling, and problems with sexual, bowel and bladder function. Most of the progression within the field has focused on the slowing the disease course—with a treatment count numbering in double digits—leaving minimal treatment options available for these slew of symptoms.

For Luc Truyen, MD, PhD, matching up the ability to significantly reduce inflammatory attacks with the ability to protect oligodendrocytes are among his top priority. Truyen, global head of Development and External Affairs-Neuroscience at Janssen Pharmaceutical, sat down to briefly discuss the areas of research within MS that need more attention, as well as a final statement on some of the research presented at ACTRIMS Forum 2021, February 25–27.

For more coverage of ACTRIMS 2021, click here.