Trending News Today: FDA to Review Ozanimod for Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

Both the FDA and the European Medicines Agency have accepted applications to review ozanimod, an oral sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor modulator, for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, The American Journal of Managed Care reported. According to the article, the application submissions were based on data from the SUNBEAM and RADIANCE trials, which found that patients treated with ozanimod lost less cortical grey matter volume. Ozanimod also significantly reduced the annualized relapse rate among patients in the studies, the article reported.

A new study found that many epinephrine self-injectors used to treat severe allergic reactions may still be potent enough to work months after their labeled expiration date, Reuters reported. According to the article, the researchers tested the contents of 46 different autoinjectors to see how much epinephrine remained after the expiration dates on the labels. Two years after their labeled expiration dates, 80% of the devices still retained 90% or more epinephrine, the article reported.

The varicella vaccine may reduce the risk of pediatric shingles, Pharmacy Times reported. According to the article, the study analyzed data from more than 6.3 million children between 2003 and 2014, which showed that approximately 50% were vaccinated for some or all of the study period. Overall, children who received the 2-dose vaccine had a significantly lower rate of pediatric shingles than those who had the 1-dose vaccine, the article reported.