Categories
Uncategorized

Ponesimod

 

Ponesimod (Ponvory) for the treatment of adults with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). 

 

 

Nine in 10 patients with multiple sclerosis who received the medication did not have worsening of 3-month disability, and ponesimod showed a numerical benefit in delaying disability progression.

 

 

Clinical trials found that it is superior to teriflunomide in reducing annual relapses and brain lesions.

 

 

Ponesimod is a once-daily oral selective sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 (S1P1) modulator. 

 

 

It can treat clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting disease, and active secondary progressive disease.

 

 

Approval is partially based on a 2-year, head-to-head phase 3 clinical trial: ponesimod demonstrated superior efficacy in significantly reducing annual relapse by 30.5% compared to teriflunomide 14 mg in patients with relapsing MS. 

 

 

Over the study period, 71% of patients treated with ponesimod had no confirmed relapses, compared to 61% in the teriflunomide group.

 

 

It was superior to teriflunomide in reducing the number of new gadolinium-enhancing (GdE) T1 lesions and the number of new or enlarging T2 lesions by 59% and 56%, respectively. 

 

 

It prevents disability from worsening for most people, 9 in 10 patients who received the medication did not have worsening of 3-month disability.

 

 

The drug dissipates within 1 week if treatment needs to be stopped and its effects on the immune system wear off in 1 to 2 weeks for most patients. 

 

 

Ponesimod has a proven safety profile and was generally well-tolerated over multiple clinical studies totaling more than 10 years, with overall adverse event (AE) rates similar to placebo in the phase 2 and teriflunomide in the phase 3 trials. 

 

 

Most common AEs observed were upper respiratory infection, hepatic transaminase elevation, and hypertension.

 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *