Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 May 25
Bielekova B, Richert N, Howard T, Blevins G, Markovic-Plese S, McCartin
J, Wurfel J, Ohayon J, Waldmann TA, McFarland HF, Martin R.
Neuroimmunology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892; Department
of Neurology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 6109 Neuroscience
Research Building, Chapel Hill, NC 27599; Institute of Neuroimmunology,
Charite, Humboldt-University Berlin, Schumannstrasse 20/21, D-10117 Berlin,
Germany.
Identifying effective treatment combinations for MS patients failing standard therapy is an important goal.
We report the results of a phase II open label baseline-to-treatment trial of a humanized monoclonal antibody against CD25 (daclizumab) in 10 multiple sclerosis patients with incomplete response to IFN-beta therapy and high brain inflammatory and clinical disease activity.
Daclizumab was very well tolerated and led to a 78% reduction in new contrast-enhancing lesions and to a significant improvement in several clinical outcome measures.