Question
Prof G, can you please provide a summary of the research presented at the American Academy of Neurology meeting? What stood out to you, and how has it changed the field?
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Prof G’s response
The annual American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual meeting is probably only second to ECTRIMS in its influence on the MS community. I decided not to attend this year in the hope I would be offered a slot for my hip replacement. I never was, and I am now expecting to have surgery sometime in June. I am being a bit fussy because I want a particular surgeon to perform the operation. He is considered one of the best hip surgeons in the UK. Therefore, I would rather wait. I wonder if the same thing happens with MS; people prefer to wait to start treatment based on who they want to see in relation to their treatment. The skill set in relation to surgery is very different to that in medicine. Therefore, I don’t think this should be an issue, but it is something I have never really thought about before. Have any of you delayed treatment decisions to wait for a specific opinion?
For the MS community, this AAN meeting feels like a genuine inflexion point. After a decade of incremental refinement of high-efficacy treatments mainlyt driven by the anti-CD20s and cladribine three innovations are reshaping the field: the first convincing phase 3 readout for a brain-penetrant Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor across both relapsing and primary progressive disease; the first successful phase 3 trial ever in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody–associated disease (MOGAD); and a rapidly maturing ecosystem of fluid biomarkers, imaging signatures, and real-world evidence that is beginning to create a biology-first view of MS.
For a more detailed commentary, read on …
