MS Active Source

Treatment

• Introduction
• Introduction to MS
• MS treatments
  • Intro to MS treatments
  • Interferons
  • Avonex
  • Betaferon
  • Rebif
  • Glatiramer acetate
  • Copaxone
  • Natalizumab
  • Tysabri
  • Treatment of relapses
  • Risk-sharing scheme
  • Progressive MS
• Positive approach
• Newly diagnosed?
• Relative with MS
• Links
• Principles of treatment

Natalizumab

Natalizumab belongs to a new class of drugs known as selective adhesion molecule (SAM) inhibitors. Its brand name is Tysabri. It is a monoclonal antibody and the first type of these drugs to be licensed for MS. (refT15) It is given as an infusion into a vein every four weeks.

Antibodies are proteins which are made by the immune system to fight foreign substances, such as infections. Monoclonal antibodies can be produced in large quantities in a laboratory. They are designed to alter the natural response of the immune system. Natalizumab is thought to prevent certain cells which are produced by the immune system from entering the central nervous system. It is these cells which can lead to inflammation and destruction of the myelin sheath which in people with MS.

In Europe, natalizumab is licensed to treat people who have highly active relapsing remitting MS and who have not been helped by interferon or who have rapidly evolving, severe relapsing remitting MS.

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