{"id":392939,"date":"2026-01-07T02:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T02:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/392939\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T02:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T02:06:12","slug":"natalizumab-recommended-in-england-to-treat-hard-to-control-ms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/392939\/","title":{"rendered":"Natalizumab recommended in England to treat hard-to-control MS"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England is recommending natalizumab \u2014 sold as Tysabri<\/a> and Tyruko<\/a> \u2014 as an option for certain people with hard-to-control multiple sclerosis<\/a> (MS).<\/p>\n

NICE is responsible for deciding which medicines will be covered by the National Health Service (NHS) in England, with decisions also influencing NHS coverage in other parts of the U.K.<\/p>\n

The new final draft guidance specifically recommends natalizumab as an option for people with relapsing-remitting MS<\/a> (RRMS) \u2014 characterized by periods of new or worsening symptoms interspersed with periods of remission \u2014whose disease remains highly active after a full course of at least one disease-modifying therapy, and for whom the short-course oral MS therapy Mavenclad<\/a> (cladribine) is not suitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis recommendation means people living with highly active relapsing-remitting MS now have a meaningful additional treatment option,\u201d Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation at NICE, said in a press release<\/a> from the agency announcing the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving choice matters enormously to people managing a lifelong condition \u2014 it allows individuals and their clinicians to select the treatment that best fits their personal circumstances,\u201d Knight added.<\/p>\n

Recommended Reading<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The decision specifically applies to a subcutaneous, or under-the-skin, formulation of Tysabri, the name-brand medication marketed by Biogen<\/a>. It does not cover the intravenous, or into-the-vein, formulation of Tysabri, which is the only version of the medication approved in the U.S.<\/p>\n

The recommendation also covers Tyruko (natalizumab-sztn), a biosimilar of Tysabri that\u2019s given by infusion into the bloodstream and is sold by Sandoz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Biosimilars are medications that are functionally identical to name-brand biologic medicines. Much like generic therapies for traditional medicines, biosimliars are usually cheaper than their name-brand counterparts. Tyruko is currently approved<\/a> as an alternative to intravenous Tysabri in Europe<\/a> and the U.S.<\/p>\n

Recommendation gives more treatment options to people with RRMS<\/p>\n

According to Knight, NICE is aiming to give patients more treatment options.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur \u2018whole lifecycle\u2019 approach means that when more affordable versions of treatments become available, we can look again at medicines and widen access,\u201d Knight said. \u201cIt\u2019s an example of smarter spending in action \u2014 better outcomes for patients and better value for the NHS.\u201d<\/p>\n

In MS, immune cells enter the brain and cause inflammation that damages healthy brain cells. RRMS, the most common form of the disease, is marked by relapses or flares<\/a> where symptoms suddenly worsen, followed by periods of remission where symptoms ease. Natalizumab is a disease-modifying therapy<\/a> (DMT) designed to slow MS disease progression by stopping inflammatory immune cells from getting into the brain.<\/p>\n

The new recommendation for people with highly active RRMS specifically refers to individuals who continue to experience relapses or show other signs of disease activity despite a full course of at least one other treatment designed to target the underlying cause of MS.<\/p>\n

NICE already recommended Tysabri for rapidly evolving severe RRMS \u2014 referring to RRMS patients who have experienced two or more relapses in the previous year and who have MRI evidence of overt disease activity.<\/p>\n

Recommended Reading<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Advocates call natalizumab \u2018a highly effective treatment\u2019 for MS<\/p>\n

The decision is good news for patients, advocates say.<\/p>\n

\u201cNatalizumab is a highly effective treatment, and we\u2019re really pleased that people with highly active relapsing MS who haven\u2019t responded to previous DMT(s) will now have the option to take it,\u201d said Ceri Smith, head of policy at the MS Society UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[The NICE recommendation] is welcome news for the thousands of people who have breakthrough MS activity on treatment. [They] now have access to a wider range of treatments without needing to wait, meaning that they and their clinicians can choose the treatment that is most suitable for them.<\/p>\n

Smith said the recommendation \u201cwill particularly benefit people who want to start a family as natalizumab can be taken during pregnancy, unlike other highly effective DMTs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruth Dobson, PhD, center lead for the Center of Preventive Neurology at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health, added that the NICE recommendation \u201cis welcome news for the thousands of people who have breakthrough MS activity on treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Dobson, these individuals \u201cnow have access to a wider range of treatments without needing to wait, meaning that they and their clinicians can choose the treatment that is most suitable for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because natalizumab increases the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare and potentially life-threatening brain infection, the NICE guidance suggests that patients should be tested for the virus that causes PML before and during treatment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England is recommending natalizumab \u2014 sold as Tysabri…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[49,48,84,377],"class_list":{"0":"post-392939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-medication"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}