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Multiple sclerosis

Reprogramming the immune repertoire with alemtuzumab in MS

Results from two phase III trials show the potency of alemtuzumab—a T-cell and B-cell depleting antibody—in reducing clinical and paraclinical measures of disease activity in relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis. The effects of this immunotherapeutic agent highlight the relevance of T lymphocytes in the early pathogenesis of disease.

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Correspondence to Heinz Wiendl or Bernd Kieseier.

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Competing interests

H. Wiendl has received honoraria for lecturing, council and advisory boards, and travel expenses for attending meetings from Bayer Health Care, Biogen Idec/Elan Corporation, CSL Behring, Fresenius, Lilly, Lundbeck, Merck Serono, Novartis, Genzyme/Sanofi Aventis, and TEVA. He has served or serves as a consultant for Biogen Idec, Genzyme/Sanofi-Aventis, Merck Serono, Novartis Pharma, and NovoNordisk, and receives research support from Bayer Schering Pharma, Biogen Idec/Elan Corporation, Fresenius, Genzyme/Sanofi, Merck Serono, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, and TEVA. B. Kieseier has received honoraria for lecturing, travel expenses for attending meetings, and financial support for research from Bayer Schering, Biogen Idec, CSL Behring, Genzyme/Sanofi Aventis, Grifols, Merck Serono, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi Aventis, Talecris, and TEVA Neurosciences.

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Supplementary Figure 1

Four types of immunotherapeutic approaches and their effect on the immunopathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. (PDF 251 kb)

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Wiendl, H., Kieseier, B. Reprogramming the immune repertoire with alemtuzumab in MS. Nat Rev Neurol 9, 125–126 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.2

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