The Zhitong Finance App learned that on April 18, Novartis Pharmaceuticals (NVS.US) announced data from its ALITIOS open label extension study, showing that first-line treatment with Kesimpta (ofatumab) can maintain efficiency for up to six years in newly diagnosed patients with recurrent multiple sclerosis (RMS). According to the press release, Kesimpta is the first B-cell-targeted therapy that allows patients to self-inject themselves once a month at home through the Sensoready autoinjector pen, making it convenient for patients to manage the disease.

A recent diagnosis is defined as a patient who begins treatment within 3 years of initial diagnosis and has not received any other treatment before. These effects include 44% fewer relapses in patients who continued to use Kesimpta on the frontline; 96.4% and 82.7% fewer MRI lesions (Gd+ T1 and Net2), respectively; and 24.5% and 21.6% fewer confirmed worsening disability (CDW) events at 3 and 6 months, respectively.

Analysis results showed that the annualized recurrence rate (ARR) of newly diagnosed patients with primary RMS decreased further in the ALITIOS open label extension study, from 0.104 in the previous phase 3 clinical study to 0.050 (52.0% decrease), which is equivalent to a recurrence every 20 years.

The study also found that treatment using Kesimpta for up to six years was well tolerated, and no unexpected safety signals were found. The incidence of adverse events (AEs), severe AEs, severe infections, and malignancies remained stable over six years with no increased risk.