People with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis who take the drug siponimod for two years show an improvement in thinking skills, a new study has found.
Siponimod, sold as Mayzent, was approved in 2019 to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. The drug, taken daily as an oral tablet, originally was shown to slow progression of the disease and lessen the number of relapses patients experience over time.
In the new study, participants who took the drug on average improved their scores on a standardized test of cognitive processing speed at one year, 18 months and again at two years. Their peers taking a placebo showed no change in processing speed.
While there was no improvement in other cognitive skills tested, the findings are encouraging considering that there is currently no approved treatment for cognitive impairment in MS, said study author Ralph H. B. Benedict, Ph.D., of the University of Buffalo in New York.
“Multiple sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disease, meaning neurons in the brain can break down or die, and this can greatly affect a person’s thinking skills,” Benedict said. “We are impressed to see that siponimod may improve cognitive processing speed in people with MS.”
The most common adverse reactions reported in the original Mayzent clinical trials included headache, high blood pressure and liver function test increases, according to the FDA. The drug is not currently approved to treat cognitive decline in MS..
The study was published last week in the online issue of Neurology.
