The future of MS care: How scientific progress is providing more options

I’m a neurologist by background, but around 15 years ago, I took the leap into industry, attracted by both the vision and ability that industry has to deliver meaningful change for people with various conditions.?

In my opinion, nowhere is ‘meaningful change’ more apparent than in multiple sclerosis (MS). As MS care and scientific achievements have significantly progressed, we are fortunately in a position to offer more options to people with MS to help give them control over their condition in a way that fits their lifestyle. And in the future, we must continue to push the boundaries of science to provide more options for more people with MS.??

Stopping progression is the main aim of MS care

While a practising neurologist, I had the opportunity to care for people who lived with MS and hear their day-to-day realities. All too often, they spoke of anxiety and frustration about what limits they feared MS might place on their lives – conversations that fueled my desire to offer more.??

But what does more look like? Outside of a cure, stopping progression is considered the main goal of MS treatment, which means minimising its unpredictable nature and significantly reducing the physical and emotional challenges that living with a progressive disease carries.?

Ongoing research means new options for people with MS??

Recent evidence – including that the different forms of MS may have more in common than originally thought – is deepening our understanding and highlighting the importance of treating MS to slow progression as soon as possible. Highly effective disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) have helped to revolutionise care for people with MS, as they can change the course of the disease. Initiating treatment early is critical to slow irreversible damage, worsening disability, and decline in quality of life. (Read more about the development of these transformational therapies here .)

By further exploring treatments with different targets, dosing regimens, or administration routes that are more effective, we can improve the treatment experience and offer flexibility for patients.

Now people with MS can expect more

An MS diagnosis often falls early in a person’s adult life, impacting them at a particularly important time when they might be finishing studies or progressing in their careers, getting married or deciding whether to start a family. And these are important considerations when looking at treatment options. By speaking to physical and emotional symptoms alongside their ambitions, a person with MS, together with their doctor, can determine the best course of action – a treatment that suits their unique needs and offers more. (I spoke about the importance of this power of choice here .)

As such, industry needs to listen deeply to the unique personal experiences of people with MS so that we can embed outcomes that really matter to them within our ongoing research.?

The future of MS care?

It’s an exciting time to be in neuroscience, as our understanding of MS continues to evolve and we get closer to the goal of stopping progression. And it is clear how important personal needs are within this journey and why we have worked to deliver options that suit people’s lives. This commitment to improving treatment experiences for those living with the disease is really what drives us at Roche.?

How have personal insights from people living with MS impacted your research and/or patient relationship? Has it altered your opinion on what the main goal for MS treatment should look like?