Ocrelizumab excites ECTRIMS | Nature Reviews Neurology

Ocrelizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody that depletes CD20+ B cells, looks set to transform treatment of both relapsing–remitting and progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), following

success in three phase III trials that were presented at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) congress in October.

The efficacy of ocrelizumab in relapsing–remitting MS was tested in the identical OPERA I and II trials, in which ocrelizumab was compared with IFN-β1a. Treatment was administered in 24-week

cycles to 1,656 patients with active disease and gadolinium-enhancing lesions. Over 2 years, the relapse rate was ∼47% lower in patients treated with ocrelizumab than in patients treated

with IFN-β1a. Ocrelizumab also reduced the risk of confirmed disability progression by 40% after 12 and 24 weeks of treatment. Furthermore, patients treated with ocrelizumab had 95% fewer

gadolinium-enhancing lesions than did patients treated with IFN-β1a.

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