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Review
. 2017 Oct;14(4):835-841.
doi: 10.1007/s13311-017-0557-4.

Ocrelizumab and Other CD20+ B-Cell-Depleting Therapies in Multiple Sclerosis

Jeffrey M Gelfand  1 , Bruce A C Cree  1 , Stephen L Hauser  2
Affiliations
Review

Ocrelizumab and Other CD20+ B-Cell-Depleting Therapies in Multiple Sclerosis

Jeffrey M Gelfand et al. Neurotherapeutics. 2017 Oct.

Abstract

Selective depletion of CD20+ B cells by anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies as monotherapy in multiple sclerosis (MS) profoundly suppresses acute inflammatory disease activity and signifies an important advance in the treatment of relapsing-remitting MS. Ocrelizumab, a humanized anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, is also the first proven therapy to lessen disability progression in primary progressive MS-a breakthrough for patients with a disease that had no proven therapy. Ocrelizumab is generally well tolerated, with the most common adverse events experienced being infusion reactions and infections. In ocrelizumab trials in MS a numerical imbalance in the risk of malignancies was observed. In this article, we review advances in anti-CD20 B-cell-depleting biological therapies for MS, including ocrelizumab, rituximab, and ofatumumab.

Keywords: B-cell-depleting therapy; Multiple sclerosis; ocrelizumab; progressive MS; relapsing-remitting MS; rituximab.

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Conflict of interest statement

J.M.G. has received compensation for consulting for Genentech and Medimmune. He has received research support from Genentech, MedDay, and Quest Diagnostics. He has also received compensation for medical legal consulting. B.A.C.C. has received compensation for consulting from AbbVie, Biogen, EMD Serono, Novartis, and Shire. S.L.H. serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Annexon, Bionure, Symbiotix, and Molecular Stethoscope, and on the Board of Trustees of Neurona; and also reports receiving travel reimbursement and writing assistance from F. Hoffmann-La Roche for CD20-related meetings and presentations.

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