The MS Node

The MS Node has a longstanding and internationally acknowledged research experience spanning from basic immunopathological characterisation of the disease and preclinical animal studies to studies on epidemiology, clinical course, imaging, treatment trials, health economy and patient reported outcome measures.

Node leader: Kjell-Morten Myhr

Myhr is a senior consultant and professor of neurology and has since 2001 chaired the Bergen Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Research Group at Haukeland University Hospital and the University of Bergen. He has previously chaired the Norwegian MS Competence Centre, the Norwegian MS registry and the first KG Jebsen Centre for Medical Research (in MS) and is currently the director of Neuro-SysMed.

MS therapy, aiming at optimising the treatment of relapsing-remitting MS, with early high efficacy therapies and stem cell therapy in patients with breakthrough disease activity. The node is also focusing on the treatment of progressive MS, as well as symptomatic therapy of pain and spasticity, and most recently searching for novel antiviral treatment targets for treatment and disease prevention.

Node activities

The MS Node has broad experience focusing on various topics related to diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Ongoing research projects are aiming at defining the importance of potential risk factors as well biomarkers for prognosis and treatment response to optimise treatment strategies at different disease stages. Overall, the aim is to develop tailored treatment strategies for patients with MS. Major challenges are thus how to improve the use of already available disease modifying therapies, and how to define new disease pathways that can be targeted by novel treatments. The latter is especially needed for the progressive disease courses in MS. Most recently, we are also developing novel treatment strategies for possible prevention of the disease. The MS Node is currently running twelve investigator and nine industry sponsored clinical trials.

Investigator sponsored clinical trials:

• • The RAM-MS study: a randomized clinical trial for comparing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) versus alemtuzumab, cladribine or ocrelizumab in MS
    
    
  • The OVERLORD-MS study: Ocrelizumab Versus Rituximab Off-Label at the Onset of Relapsing MS Disease
    
    
  • The OR-Switch-MS study: Ocrelizumab to Rituximab Switch Study in Multiple Sclerosis
    
    
  • The REDUCE-MS study: Rituximab Extended Dose interval in Multiple Sclerosis
    
    
  • The SMART-MS study: Study of Mesenchymal Autologous stem cells as Regenerative Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis
    
    
  • The NORSEMAN study: Nicotinamide Riboside Supplementation in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
    
    
  • The TAF-MS 1 study: Tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF) and Epstein-Barr virus activity in people with multiple sclerosis
    
    
  • The TAF-MS 2 study: Tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF) therapy in people with multiple sclerosis
    
    
  • The NorseMS study: A digital therapeutic to improve insomnia in Multiple Sclerosis – a randomised controlled trial
  • The 3TR study: Taxonomi, Treatment, Target and Remisson

The MS Node also serves as the national coordinator for five industry-sponsored multicentre randomised clinical trials in both relapsing-remitting and progressive disease. In addition, they are the national coordinator in one extension study and another five safety studies sponsored by the industry. In addition, the MS Node is currently immune phenotyping stem cells and immune cells from patients included in the ongoing clinical trials, aiming at identifying biomarkers for tailored dosing or patient selection for the different therapies. They also perform preclinical animal studies to evaluate possible disease pathways of progressive MS and regenerative potentials of stem cell therapy. They also evaluate treatment responses by neurofilament biomarkers in both spinal fluid and serum. In collaboration with the Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization Centre at Haukeland University Hospital, they evaluate treatment responses by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The MS Node is also running projects for optimising treatment switches if treatment fails, as well as safety studies of therapy during breastfeeding. Further, the node has ongoing studies aiming at identifying modifiable risk factors for the disease that may influence disease progression, or even risk of side effects from therapies. This includes studies of comorbidity, with special focus on cancer, as well as registry projects analysing real world data on treatment compliance and factors influencing discontinuation rates for ongoing therapies.