touchSATELLITE SYMPOSIUM
Seeing a difference in Neuromyelitis Optica
Spectrum Disorder: integrating novel strategies into care
Join our panel of experts as they discuss the rationale for and latest data on novel therapies for neuromyelitis optica sepctrum disorder and how to integrate them into patient care.
Prof. Jackie Palace
Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
CHAIR
Panelists:
Prof. Jackie Palace introduces Prof. Kazuo Fujihara and Prof. Sean Pittock and walks through the agenda and educational objectives for this activity.
Prof. Kazuo Fujihara starts by differentiating NMOSD from multiple sclerosis, and goes on to discuss the role of biomarkers and how early and accurate diagnosis can reduce the significant burden of NMOSD on patients.
Prof. Sean Pittock gives an overview of novel targets in NMOSD and looks at the efficacy and safety data for three new agents and their potential to prevent NMOSD attacks in a more targeted way.
The expert panel discusses a patient case presented by Prof. Jackie Palace to highlight optimal treatment-decision making and when to consider novel therapies.
A live Q&A discussion recorded at MSVirtual 2020.
Overview & Learning Objectives
Overview
In this activity, Prof. Jackie Palace chairs a Satellite Symposium at MSVirtual 2020 (11–13 September 2020) to address key issues around the integration of novel therapies for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) into care. This includes discussion with Prof. Kazuo Fujihara and Prof. Sean Pittock on the importance of early and accurate diagnosis, the clinical implications of the latest data on novel therapies and their potential use in patients with NMOSD.
Learning Objectives
After watching this activity, participants should be better able to:
- Outline strategies for early and accurate diagnosis of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD)
- Describe how novel treatment options target the pathophysiology of NMOSD to prevent relapse
- Assess recent phase III results for novel therapies and how these may impact treatment decisions in NMOSD
Faculty & Disclosures
Prof. Jackie Palace
Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
Jackie Palace is a consultant neurologist in Oxford and Professor in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Oxford University. She leads the Oxford Multiple Sclerosis group, runs a national service for congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS), and jointly runs a UK neuromyelitis optica (NMO) service. read more
Her research interests cover multiple sclerosis (MS), NMO, CMS and myasthenia gravis, and include clinical treatment trials, immunological studies, pathology, biomarkers, genetics and imaging studies. She has been a UK lead for the National Risk Sharing Scheme, which assessed the long-term effectiveness for disease- modifying agents in MS. She is also a board member for the European Charcot Foundation, on the steering committee for the Magnetic Resonance Imaging in MS and is the Oxford lead for the European Reference Network for Rare Neuromuscular Diseases.
Disclosures: Grants/research support from: Merck Serono, Myware and Sparks (Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Charity). Consultant/advisory boards for: Amplo, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Argenx, Blueprint Medicines, Merck, Mitsubishi, Roche, Viela Bio, Vitaccess and UCB.
Prof. Kazuo Fujihara
Department of Multiple Sclerosis Therapeutics, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Kazuo Fujihara is Professor in the Department of Multiple Sclerosis Therapeutics at the Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, and Director of the Multiple Sclerosis and Neuromyelitis Optica Center, Southern Tohoku Research Institute for Neuroscience, in Koriyama, Japan.
He is a neurologist and has mainly worked in the field of multiple sclerosis (MS), neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and related neuroimmunological disorders. He is a member of the International Panel on Diagnosis of MS (and he contributed to the 2010 and 2017 revisions to the McDonald Criteria) and the International Panel on NMO Diagnosis (contributing to the 2015 International Consensus Diagnostic Criteria of NMO Spectrum Disorder). read more
Since 2013, he has served on the Executive Committee and is a member of the International Medical and Scientific Board of the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF), and has served on the Board of the European Charcot Foundation. He is an inaugural member and President of the Pan-Asian Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis, President of the Japanese Society for Neuroimmunology, an honorary member of the Association of Sri Lankan Neurologists, honorary corresponding member of the Indian Academy of Neurology and honorary fellow of the Hong Kong Society of Multiple Sclerosis. Prof. Fujihara is an editorial board member of Neurology: Neuroimmunology and Neuroinflammation and Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, and Associate Editor of multiple sclerosis and neuroimmunology for Frontiers in Neurology.
Disclosures: Consultant/advisory boards for: Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Asahi Kasei, Biogen, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Novartis, Mitsubishi Tanable, Takeda, Teijin Limited and Viela Bio.
Prof. Sean Pittock
Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology, and the Neuroimmunology Research Laboratory, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
Sean Pittock is Professor of Neurology and Director of the Neuroimmunology Laboratory and the Center for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Autoimmune Neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, USA.
His expertise is in the laboratory- and clinic-based diagnosis and management of immune-mediated neurological disorders. He is considered a leader in the field of glial autoimmunity as it pertains to inflammatory central nervous system (CNS) demyelinating diseases, including MS. read more
He directs the Mayo Clinic Neuroimmunology Laboratory, a leading centre that tests patients for comprehensive neural antibody profiles related to inflammatory CNS disorders. As Director of the Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology at the Mayo Clinic, he has assisted in building the largest biorepository of blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples from patients with MS and inflammatory CNS disorders in the world. The laboratory also provides testing for biomarkers of type 1 diabetes, allowing the collection and storage of more than 1,000 serum samples.
He currently serves as the chair of the Autoimmune Neurology Section at the American Academy of Neurology, has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers in the field of MS and autoimmune neurology, and recently co-edited the first textbook of autoimmune neurology.
Disclosures: Grants/personal fees/other from: Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Astellas, Autoimmune Encephalitis Alliance, Grifols, MedImmune and UCB. Â Patents issued: Patent # 8,889,102 (Application # 12-678350, Neuromyelitis Optica autoantibodies as a marker for neoplasia); Patent# 9,891,219B2 (Application # 12-573942, Methods for treating Neuromyelitis Optica [NMO] by administration of eculizumab to an individual that is aquaporin-4 (AQP4)-IgG autoantibody positive).
