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Review
. 2025 Jan 16;25(1):18-24.
doi: 10.1136/pn-2024-004228.

Using disease-modifying treatments in multiple sclerosis: Association of British Neurologists (ABN) 2024 guidance

Waqar Rashid  1 , Olga Ciccarelli  2   3 , Siobhan M Leary  4 , Tarunya Arun  5 , Anisha Doshi  2   6 , Nikos Evangelou  7 , Helen L Ford  8   9 , Jeremy Hobart  10 , Saiju Jacob  11   12 , Paolo Antonio Muraro  13 , Katy Murray  14   15 , Jacqueline Palace  16 , Ruth Dobson  17   18 ; Association Of British Neurologists Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroinflammation Advisory Group
Affiliations
Review

Using disease-modifying treatments in multiple sclerosis: Association of British Neurologists (ABN) 2024 guidance

Waqar Rashid et al. Pract Neurol. .

Abstract

The Association of British Neurologists last published guidelines on disease-modifying treatment (DMT) in multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2015. Since then, additional DMTs have been licensed and approved for prescribing within the National Health Service for relapsing-remitting MS, early primary progressive MS and active secondary progressive MS. This updated guidance provides a consensus-based approach to using DMTs. We provide recommendations for eligibility, starting, monitoring, switching and stopping of DMTs; pregnancy; equitable access to DMT; autologous haemopoietic stem-cell transplantation; and use of generics. We highlight best practice where it exists and discuss future priorities.

Keywords: MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: TA has received honoraria or consulting fees for participating in advisory boards related to trial steering committees and data and safety monitoring committees, speaker fees and research grants from Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi-Genzyme. She holds a research grant from Merck Serono towards a study looking longer term outcomes with Cladribine. TA is funded by the NIHR on a 60-month SCRPA award (2024–2029) ref NIHR304536. TR twitter/X handle is @tarunyaarun. HLF has received research support from the Health Technology Assessment Programme (NIHR), EME Programme, the UK MS Society and the Horne Family Foundation. In the past 3 years, HLF has been a local principal investigator for trials in MS funded by Novartis, Roche and Biogen Idec and has taken part in advisory boards and consultancy for Merck, Novartis and Roche. In the last 5 years, SML has received speaker fees from Merck Serono and Novartis, and sponsorship to attend educational meetings from Roche and Sanofi-Genzyme. SJ has served as a Chief/Principal Investigator for Clinical Trials or has been an international advisory board member for Alexion, Alnylam, Argenx, Immunovant, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Regeneron and UCB Pharma; is currently an expert panel member of the Myasthenia Gravis consortium for Argenx; and has received speaker fees from Eisai, Terumo BCT and UCB Pharmaceuticals. RD received honoraria for speaking and/or travelling from Biogen, Merck, Teva, Roche, Novartis, Janssen and Sanofi. She served on advisory boards for Roche, Biogen, Janssen, Novartis, Sandoz and Merck. She has received grant support from Biogen, Merck, Celgene. RD twitter is @drruthdobson. Disclosures: JH, or affiliated institutions have received either consulting fees, honoraria, support to attend meetings, clinical service support or research support from Biogen, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Sanofi Genzyme, Merck Serono, Novartis, Oxford Health Policy Forum. KM: no competing interests relevant to the guidelines (and no twitter account). OC has received honoraria or consultation fees from Neurology Journal, Novartis, Biogen, Merck. JP has received support for scientific meetings and honorariums for advisory work from Merck Serono, Novartis, Chugai, Alexion, Roche, Medimmune, Amgen, Vitaccess, UCB, Mitsubishi, Amplo, Janssen. Grants from Alexion, Argenx, Clene, Roche, Medimmune, Amplobio technology. Patent ref P37347WO and licence agreement Numares multimarker MS diagnostics Shares in AstraZenica. Her group has been awarded an ECTRIMS fellowship and a Sumaira Foundation grant to start later this year. A Charcot fellow worked in Oxford 2019– 2021. She acknowledges partial funding to the trust by highly specialised services NHS England. She is on the medical advisory boards of the Sumaira Foundation and MOG project charities, is a member of the Guthy Jackon Foundation Charity and is on the Board of the European Charcot Foundation and the steering committee of MAGNIMS and the UK NHSE IVIG Committee and chairman of the NHSE neuroimmunology patient pathway and ECTRIMS Council member on the educational committee since June 2023. On the ABN advisory groups for MS and neuroinflammation and neuromuscular diseases. AD: no competing interests. PAM reports no conflict of interest. He discloses travel support and speaker honoraria from unrestricted educational activities organised by Novartis, Bayer Health Care, Bayer Pharma, Biogen Idec, Merck-Serono and Sanofi Aventis. He discloses consulting to Magenta Therapeutics, Jasper Therapeutics and Cellerys AG. He reports grants from NIHR-EME and the Benaroya Research Institute and discloses consulting to Magenta Therapeutics, Jasper Therapeutics and Cellerys AG. WR in the last 5 years has received speaking fees and/or served on advisory boards from Biogen, Roche, Novartis, Janssen, Merck Serono, Sandoz, Sanofi and Celgene.

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