The use of anti-CD20 therapies has revolutionized treatment options for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, reducing relapses and halting disease progression. While CD20 is primarily expressed by B cells at different stages, a small T-cell subset also expresses CD20, and therefore anti-CD20 therapies also directly and indirectly affect T cells.

Innocare Pharma Ltd. said it is open to new collaborations after partner Biogen Inc. decided to terminate a global deal to develop and commercialize BTK inhibitor orelabrutinib, in development for multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases. Notice of the termination, disclosed in Biogen’s fourth-quarter 2022 financial report, was “based on the contract term of ‘terminate for convenience,’” Innocare told BioWorld. “We do not know their internal decision-making process.”

Updated MRI results from Clene Inc.’s phase II Visionary-MS trial testing gold nanocrystal therapy CNM-Au8 bolsters the company’s premise that targeting energy metabolism could protect neuronal function in patients with multiple sclerosis and lays the groundwork for a phase III trial as soon as a strategic partner is found.

A phase IIb clinical study has Frequency Therapeutics Inc. reeling and making big changes, including layoffs. The placebo-controlled phase IIb study of FX-322 in treating acquired sensorineural hearing loss by regenerating hair cells in the cochlea missed its primary efficacy endpoint, so the company is discontinuing the program. It’s also shutting down a phase Ib study of FX-345, a program for treating the same indication.

The interleukin-2 receptor subunit γ (IL-2RG), also known as γc cytokine receptor or CD132, family of cytokines includes interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-4, IL-7, IL-9, IL-15 and IL-21. These γc cytokines exert broad pleiotropic effects on the innate and adaptive immune system, and they all share the IL-2RG chain as part of its signaling receptor complex. Researchers from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. aimed to assess whether targeting γc cytokines may serve as a strategy for the prevention and treatment of T-cell-mediated disease.