Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute Leading The Way In Comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Research

It is believed that people have been living with multiple sclerosis (MS) since the late 1300s. It wasn’t until 1868 that the famous neurologist, Jean-Martin Charcot, finally gave it a name. In the years since, hundreds of therapies have been tried for this degenerative disease and failed. 

Today, treatment options for progressive types of multiple sclerosis have expanded significantly and experts are looking at several promising experimental therapies, including neurologist-researchers at the Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute at Hackensack University Medical Center’s Comprehensive Care Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Related Diseases, where two clinical trials are now being offered to patients who are living with multiple sclerosis.

During MS Awareness Month this March, consider featuring the clinical trials ongoing at the Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute at Hackensack University Medical Center’s Comprehensive Care Center for MS and Related Diseases.

Exploring CAR T-Cell Therapy in MS Care

The study sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb, is investigating the potential of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in the treatment of patients with relapse-remitting MS, PPMS and secondary-progressive MS. 

CAR T-cell therapy involves extracting the patient’s own T-cells and “reprogramming” them in the lab to target cells responsible for causing degeneration that leads to MS symptoms. Patients will then undergo chemotherapy to “reboot” their immune system before the reprogrammed T-cells are reintroduced in their body. 

“CAR T-cell therapy is currently being used as a cancer treatment for blood cancers including leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma,” said Krupa Pandey M.D.,  principal investigator, neurologist, director of the MS Comprehensive Care Center and the research division of the Department of Neurology at Hackensack University Medical Center and associate professor of neurology at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, who is serving as principal investigator of the study. “Through this trial, we are leveraging the power of the patient’s own immune system to deliver personalized therapy that has the potential to slow MS activity.”

In addition to Dr. Pandey, Florian P. Thomas, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Neuroscience Institute & Department of Neurology at Hackensack University Medical Center and professor and chair of Neurology at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Dr. Anuradha Singh, neuroimmunologist, and Dr. Kiandokht Keyhanian, M.D., neuro-ophthalmologist and neuroimmunologist, at the Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute and assistant professors of Neurology at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, will be working collaboratively with stem cell transplantation expert Dr. Michele Donato, chief of the Adult Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Program at the Hackensack Meridian John Theurer Cancer Center and Professor of Oncology, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, to oversee treatment for enrolled patients. 

“We are the only center in New Jersey and one of only a few centers in the region that is currently participating in this clinical trial,” said Dr. Pandey. “There aren’t many clinical trials for patients with PPMS, and having nearby access to this trial is extremely important for our patients.” 

The team is hoping to enroll four current MS Center patients who meet all other study inclusion criteria. 

BTK Inhibitor Trial for Primary Progressive MS

The second study is  a Phase 3, randomized, double-blind study sponsored by Sanofi — is investigating the safety and efficacy of an oral medication, a Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) Inhibitor in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), a form of the disease that is rarely studied.

BTK inhibitors are showing promise in the treatment of PPMS due to their ability to cross the blood/brain barrier, impact local communication of immune cells within the central nervous system — both of which can  work to preserve the integrity  of the brain and spinal cord. The study aims to determine whether the medication can slow or stop inflammation and demyelination that cause PPMS symptoms by working on immune cells within the brain and spinal cord. 

The study is recruiting up to 10 patients under age 50 who have been diagnosed with PPMS and meet all other study inclusion criteria. 

Leading the Way in MS Research

The Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute at Hackensack University Medical Center is committed to advancing the future of MS care through research. And for patients at the MS Center, that commitment means receiving access to novel treatment options years before they are available to the public. 

“As one of the state’s leading academic and research centers, we have the infrastructure required to partner with pharmaceutical and technology innovators to offer all types of clinical trials to our patients — including trials that require multidisciplinary collaboration,” said Dr. Thomas. “When patients choose our team for their MS care, we work as a team to connect them with treatment options that may not be available elsewhere.”

Our physicians overseeing these unique clinical trials are available for interviews this March throughout Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month.