What is multiple sclerosis?
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that impacts the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves, which make up the central nervous system and controls everything we do. The resulting damage to myelin, the protective layer insulating wire-like nerve fibers, disrupts signals to and from the brain. This interruption of communication signals causes unpredictable symptoms such as numbness, tingling, mood changes, memory problems, pain, fatigue, blindness and/or paralysis. Everyone’s experience with multiple sclerosis is different and these losses may be temporary or long lasting.1
Where it strikes
A total of 2.8 million people are estimated to live with MS worldwide (35.9 per 100,000 population). Multiple sclerosis prevalence has increased in every world region since 2013. The pooled incidence rate across 75 reporting countries is 2.1 per 100,000 persons/year, and the mean age of diagnosis is 32 years. MS more frequently affects women, people of Northern European descent, and is also associated with certain environmental and genetic factors.2, 3, 4
Current treatments
Treatment goals of MS are to prevent relapses, reduce accumulation of neurological impairment and disability over time, and reduce brain inflammation and injury. Current disease-modifying treatments for MS aim to reduce the frequency of MS disease relapses and delay progression of disability, but the disease remains a chronic condition that will progressively worsen for most patients.5, 6
CAR T-cell therapy for multiple sclerosis
CAR T-cell therapy involves modifying a patient’s T cells to recognize and remove B cells in the patient’s body. Kyverna’s CD19 CAR T-cell therapy, KYV-101, specifically targets CD19, a protein expressed on the surface of B cells, which is involved in various types of autoimmune diseases. We believe our approach may present a significant advantage over current standard-of-care therapies by aiming to directly deplete B cells and potentially resetting disease-contributing B cells.
- https://www.nationalmssociety.org/What-is-MS. Accessed November 2023
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7720355. Accessed December 22, 2023.
- Amezcua L, et al. Mult Scler. 2020;26:561-567.
- Waubant E, et al. Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2019;6:1905-1922.
- Ghezzi A. Neurol Ther. 2018;7:189-194.
- Rae-Grant A, et al. Neurology. 2018;90:777-788.
How to Access Kyverna’s Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis
Participation in clinical trials is the best way to access our investigational product. Kyverna may consider requests for expanded access when alternative therapy options have been exhausted.