Patients with relapsing-remitting MS treated with teriflunomide mounted effective immune responses to seasonal influenza vaccination.
LYON, FRANCE—Teriflunomide does not interfere significantly with the serologic responses to recall antigens, allowing patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) treated with teriflunomide to mount effective immune responses to the seasonal flu vaccine. At the 28th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in MS (ECTRIMS), researchers presented the results of the phase II TERIVA study, which investigated the ability of patients with relapsing forms of MS receiving teriflunomide to respond to influenza vaccine and determine whether antigen responses were preserved under teriflunomide treatment.
Amit Bar-Or, MDCM, MSc, and colleagues conducted a multicenter, multinational, parallel-group study involving 128 patients in three treatment groups. Groups one and two included patients with relapsing forms of MS treated for at least six months with either teriflunomide 7 mg or 14 mg, respectively. Median treatment duration was 5.7 years for the 7-mg dose group and 5.8 years for the 14-mg dose group. Group three comprised patients with relapsing forms of MS treated for at least six months with a stable dose of interferon beta. Median treatment duration in this group was 5.7 years. Group three represented a reference population of patients who have been reported to mount normal immune responses to influenza vaccination.
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