Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Cladribine — an old newcomer for pulsed immune reconstitution in MS

Nature Reviews Neurology volume 13, pages 573–574 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

The EMA has approved cladribine tablets for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The drug is not new, and the journey to its approval has been a long one, but the old concepts that cladribine therapy are based on provide a new option for the possibility of drug-free remission.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Overview of different MS measures in trajectory to treatment concepts.

References

  1. Giovannoni, G. et al. A placebo-controlled trial of oral cladribine for relapsing multiple sclerosis. N. Engl. J. Med. 362, 416–426 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Montalban, X. et al. Efficacy of cladribine tablets as add-on to IFN-beta therapy in patients with active relapsing MS: final results from the phase II ONWARD Study [abstract]. Neurology 86 (Suppl. 6), P3.029 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Leist, T. P. et al. Effect of oral cladribine on time to conversion to clinically definite multiple sclerosis in patients with a first demyelinating event (ORACLE MS): a phase 3 randomised trial. Lancet Neurol. 13, 257–267 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Pakpoor, J. et al. No evidence for higher risk of cancer in patients with multiple sclerosis taking cladribine. Neurol. Neuroimmunol. Neuroinflamm. 2, e158 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Giovannoni, G. et al. Clinical efficacy of cladribine tablets in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS): final results from the 120-week phase IIIb extension trial to the CLARITY Study [abstract]. Neurology 86 (Suppl. 16), P3.028 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

H.W. is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, the German Competence Network MK, KKNMS). The author is grateful to Heike Blum for assistance in drawing of Figure 1 and to Nick Fulcher for language editing.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, University Hospital Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Münster, 48149, Germany

    Heinz Wiendl

Authors
  1. Heinz Wiendl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heinz Wiendl.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author receives honoraria for acting as a member of Scientific Advisory Boards and as a consultant for Biogen, Evgen, MedDay Pharmaceuticals, Merck Serono, Novartis, Roche Pharma AG, Sanofi-Genzyme, as well as speaker honoraria and travel support from Alexion, Biogen, Cognomed, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Gemeinnützige Hertie-Stiftung, Merck Serono, Novartis, Roche Pharma AG, Sanofi-Genzyme, TEVA, and WebMD Global. He is acting as a paid consultant for Abbvie, Actelion, Biogen, IGES, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi-Genzyme and the Swiss Multiple Sclerosis Society. His research is partially funded by Biogen GmbH, GlaxoSmithKline GmbH, Roche Pharma AG and Sanofi-Genzyme.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information S1 (box)

Features, facts and questions about immune reconstitution therapies/induction principles (DOC 29 kb)

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wiendl, H. Cladribine — an old newcomer for pulsed immune reconstitution in MS. Nat Rev Neurol 13, 573–574 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2017.119

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2017.119

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research