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September 22, 2008
Submitted by art on Tue, 2008-09-23 06:39.
Opexa Therapeutics Inc. said its lead drug candidate aimed at treating multiple sclerosis failed to meet its main goal in a midstage study. Still, Opexa said the results for Tovaxin showed a "positive trend" in reducing the annual relapse rate for multiple sclerosis patients, compared with placebo.
"Positive trend" is what gets reported when the graph looks good, but the statistics say it is just a fluke.
Submitted by art on Tue, 2008-09-23 06:38.
This study looked at immune system markers in CSF both before and after maximum immunoablative treatment and found that complete eradication of activated lymphocytes from the CNS has not been established.
This might explain why this technique has not been as successful as expected in many patients. I'm not sure what other techniques might exist to get these last stragglers, but perhaps one does exist and can be tried.