As a private practitioner in neurology, William Chow, MD, treats multiple sclerosis as well as other diseases of the brain and spinal cord. Also an attending physician at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, where he works alongside neurosurgeons and other care team members, William Chow, MD, seeks to develop the most appropriate treatment plan for each patient.
In the spring of 2017, drug developer Celgene Corp. announced positive results after a two-year trial of the drug ozanimod. The product targets relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), the most common form of multiple sclerosis, which affects 80 percent of patients with the disease in the United States. In this second, late-stage trial, ozanimod proved successful in reducing annual relapses of neurological attacks, which is a characterized by a pattern of continuous waxing and waning of symptoms.
Study results showed ozanimod not only to be effective at reducing annual relapses, as compared to interferon treatment, but to reducing the number of brain lesions. According to statistics, the drug successfully reduced the number of total lesions as well as those associated with the disease's relapsing form. Data further indicated statistically significant less brain atrophy when compared to those patients receiving interferon treatment.
If ozanimod receives FDA approval, it will join recently approved ocrelizumab, which targets primary progressive MS. Ozanimod will also be on the market alongside three other pharmaceuticals aimed at the relapsing form of the disease. Celgene plans to file for U.S. marketing approval in late 2017.