I am really envious and wish I could get my hands on ocrevus. Read a lot on it and know Roche is coining it from this old cancer drug. I hope their licence expire soon so other geberics can enter the market. I am starting Aubagio tonight. Also saw tecfidera is better than aubagio. Aubagio is probably the best available drug in South Africa. I have been trying to get work in England for the past 2 years (before my diagnosis) but brexit and employment policies make it difficult.

Ocrelizumab is similar to the anti-cancer agent cladribine, which has been repurposed for MS as Mavenclad. However, it is not a straight repurposing. My understanding is that the B-cell depletion mode of action was further developed by taking the learning from the likes of cladribine and rituximab for developing a humanised monoclonal antibody that is ocrelizumab, a novel agent developed to treat MS first. The intersection of research between MS and cancer seems to be becoming increasingly blurred as the role of the B-Cells in both diseases has been the where research has been focused. The discoveries have definitely blurred the boundary, which is why so many cross-overs in drugs exist. Wikipedia is nicely linked from one to the other and you can really get into a rabbit-hole of reading if you have 60 min! I find it all so fascinating. The interferon and glatiramer-acetate drugs were the first to show a demonstrable slowing of progress and this new generation is much closer to halting disease progress in some. The stem cells are in their early days and I hope that before I am too old they will become mainstream enough that they are widely accessible. Righto, proper work to do. Have a lovely week! Best, Dominic