MS patients in England offered 10-minute jab in place of infusions

Thousands of people with multiple sclerosis in England are to benefit from a 10-minute injection that cuts the time they need to spend in hospital by more than 90%.

At the moment, patients taking the drug ocrelizumab (Ocrevus) require twice-yearly intravenous infusions, which can take four or five hours or more to administer every time they are in hospital.

Now patients will be able to receive the same drug on the NHS via a 10-minute jab twice a year, after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency gave the green light to the rollout.

The NHS would be one of the first healthcare systems in the world to offer the new injection, with the jabs to be made available within weeks, NHS England said.

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Prof Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s medical director, said: “This new injection will drastically cut the time that regular treatment takes for those living with multiple sclerosis, meaning that thousands of patients can spend less time in hospital while helping free up clinicians’ time to see more patients as well as vital capacity on wards.

“Ocrelizumab has represented a huge advance in care in recent years as the first drug able to change the course of the disease, and we hope this innovative and speedier option will now make another significant difference in improving patients’ quality of life and help thousands avoid longer stints in hospital for treatment.”

The drug works by targeting a type of immune cell, called a B cell. This helps reduce the body’s immune response by stopping these cells from attacking and damaging myelin. Myelin is an insulating layer that forms around nerves, including those in the brain and spinal cord, and becomes damaged in people with MS.

About 9,000 patients in England are receiving ocrelizumab via an infusion to treat their active relapsing or primary progressive MS.

Clinical trials have shown the injection is just as effective as the IV treatment, with 97% of patients experiencing no relapses in their condition and no development of brain lesions in almost a year.

Nin Sambhi, 39 from Staffordshire, was diagnosed with relapsing MS in 2022 and currently takes ocrelizumab via infusion.

“It’s great to hear that this new ocrelizumab injection has been approved,” she said. “Ocrelizumab is working well for me right now and making me hopeful for a better and healthier future, but to be able to have an injection would be so much more convenient for me.

“At the moment, it takes around four or five hours to have my infusion and the logistics can be really difficult – I have two children under 10, so sorting out childcare can be challenging. This new treatment would mean significantly less time spent in hospital and more time with my family.”

Ocrelizumab, manufactured by Roche, was first approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis in 2018, with further approval for primary progression multiple sclerosis in 2019.

Ceri Smith, the head of policy at the MS Society, welcomed the jab, which is given in hospital, adding: “Over 150,000 people live with MS in the UK, and many of them rely on disease modifying treatments like ocrelizumab to help reduce MS relapses.

“This method will expand the choices available to many MS patients and will mean more people can receive this treatment in a way that suits them.”