Bridging Diagnostic Gaps and Advancing Endpoints to Address Smoldering Progression in Multiple Sclerosis

In this episode, Bridging Diagnostic Gaps and Advancing Endpoints to Address Smoldering Progression in Multiple Sclerosis, Millad Sobhanian, PharmD, BCPS, Kiranpal Sangha, PharmD, and Ryan Fuller, PharmD, explore limitations of current MS diagnostic tools and clinical trial endpoints in detecting smoldering progression, their real-world applicability, and the unmet need for therapies targeting neuroinflammation beyond focal inflammatory disease activity.

Led by Jacquelyn Bainbridge, PharmD, FCCP, FAES, MSCS, the neurology pharmacists examine the following critical questions:

Are current diagnostic tools sufficient to reflect patients with smoldering progression? If not, what’s missing?

What are the current endpoints used in MS clinical trials and what are their strengths and weaknesses?

Describe the unmet need for therapies that target neuroinflammation rather than focal inflammation.

Throughout the conversation, the experts provide a comprehensive reflection on the field and the factors that may shape how clinicians approach care moving forward.

The next episode in this series, Shifting Focus to Long-Term Disability and Novel Therapeutic Pathways in Multiple Sclerosis, features the panelists advancing their conversation on multiple sclerosis and focusing on why long-term disability has become a primary treatment focus despite effective relapse-reducing therapies and exploring how BTK inhibitors offer a distinct mechanism of action targeting disease pathways not addressed by current FDA-approved MS treatments.