Emerging treatments + myelin repairPeer-reviewed reviewReview of existing evidence
Peer-reviewed review
Stem-cell review separates immune treatment from experimental myelin repair
Published by MyelinWatch:
What happened
Autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (AHSCT) has the most mature clinical evidence for carefully selected highly active relapsing MS despite high-efficacy therapy, through immune reconstitution. Approaches using mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) remain investigational, with inconsistent controlled-trial efficacy and safety concerns for intrathecal administration.
What this means for people with MS
These approaches are not interchangeable. Immune-treatment evidence does not establish direct myelin repair or a universal cure. No established approved treatment in clinical practice has been proven to reliably restore myelin in MS.
What kind of evidence exists?
Peer-reviewed review
How reliable is this source?
Peer-reviewed review; first posted online on 19 September 2026; final publication dated 25 September 2026.
Emerging treatmentsRegistered study in peopleStudy authorised in Greece; not a result
Phase 3 extension study authorised in Greece; recruitment not yet started
Frexalimab: Greece authorises the long-term Phase 3 extension study
Organisation: Sanofi · France
The EU Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) shows that Greece authorised Sanofi's Phase 3 extension study LTS18002 (2026-525688-41-00) on 2 November 2026. Denmark, Portugal and Poland authorised it on the same day, after Belgium (30 October 2026) and Austria (1 November 2026); all six countries are listed as authorised with recruitment pending. The record plans 17 participants in Greece and lists four Greek hospitals: AHEPA University General Hospital of Thessaloniki, the University General Hospital of Ioannina, the General University Hospital of Larissa and the 401 General Military Hospital of Athens. The study will look at the long-term safety and tolerability of frexalimab, an experimental antibody, in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). It is open only to people who complete earlier frexalimab studies on the study drug, such as the Phase 3 studies FREXALT and FREVIVA. The estimated EU recruitment start is 15 February 2027.
Published by MyelinWatch:
What this means for people with MS
Authorisation means the study may proceed in Greece; it does not mean that it has started at any Greek hospital, that anyone has received treatment in it, or that frexalimab works. No Phase 3 results are available yet. People who are not already in a frexalimab study cannot join this extension, so it is not a way for other people with MS in Greece to receive frexalimab. Frexalimab is not an available treatment in Greece.
Research event/source date:
Emerging treatmentsRegistered study in peopleStudy authorised in two EU countries; not a result
Phase 3 extension study authorised in two EU countries; recruitment not yet started
Frexalimab: long-term Phase 3 extension study authorised in Belgium and Austria
Organisation: Sanofi · France
The EU Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) shows that Belgium authorised Sanofi's Phase 3 extension study LTS18002 (2026-525688-41-00) on 30 October 2026 and Austria on 1 November 2026. The study will look at the long-term safety and tolerability of frexalimab, an experimental antibody given into a vein or under the skin, in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). It is open only to people with relapsing MS or non-relapsing secondary progressive MS who complete earlier frexalimab studies on the study drug, including the Phase 3 studies FREXALT and FREVIVA. It plans 1,710 participants in total. Both countries are listed as authorised with recruitment pending; the estimated EU recruitment start is 15 February 2027.
Published by MyelinWatch:
What this means for people with MS
Authorisation means the study may proceed; it does not mean that it has started, that anyone has received treatment in it, or that frexalimab works. No Phase 3 results are available yet. People who are not already in a frexalimab study cannot join this extension. Greece authorised the study later, on 2 November 2026 (see the separate update); frexalimab is not an available treatment in Greece.
Research event/source date:
Emerging treatmentsResults from peopleSubgroup finding: significant in Hispanic or Latino participants, not significant in Black participants
Post hoc analysis of two completed Phase 3 trials in relapsing MS
OPERA trials: post hoc look at disability worsening in Black and Hispanic or Latino participants
Organisation: Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, with Genentech and Roche · United States
Researchers led by the University of Southern California, with authors from Genentech, Roche and other US centres, re-analysed the OPERA I and II trials, which compared ocrelizumab with interferon beta-1a for two years in relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). In the interferon group, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic or Latino participants had a higher risk of disability worsening confirmed after 24 weeks, measured with a combined (composite) disability measure, than non-Hispanic White participants (hazard ratio 3.0 and 2.3). Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic or Latino participants also had more CD19-positive B cells at the start. In 1,138 participants who consented to genetic analysis, higher African or Americas genetic ancestry was also linked to higher risk. Ocrelizumab lowered B cells in all groups. Compared with interferon, it lowered the risk of this composite disability worsening in Hispanic or Latino participants (hazard ratio 0.38; 95% confidence interval 0.20–0.72). In the 65 Black participants the estimate also pointed to lower risk (hazard ratio 0.41), but the 95% confidence interval of 0.13–1.29 includes no difference, so the result is not statistically significant.
Published by MyelinWatch:
What this means for people with MS
This is not a new treatment or a new approval: ocrelizumab is already an approved MS treatment. The analysis was done after the trials ended, in small subgroups (only 65 Black participants), using self-reported race and ethnicity; it cannot show why risk differed and does not change treatment guidance. The authors conclude that ocrelizumab reduced risk regardless of race or ethnicity, but for Black participants the study alone does not establish this. It does not establish availability or reimbursement in Greece or support changing an individual treatment without a neurologist.
