Ocrelizumab or Alemtuzumab Compared With Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Multiple Sclerosis - a Phase-2 Randomised Controlled Trial

A rater-blinded multicentre randomised controlled phase II trial to compare the efficacy and safety of ocrelizumab or alemtuzumab and aHSCT. Active RRMS-Patients will be included and randomised to ocrelizumab or alemtuzumab versus aHSCT. Primary endpoint will be the time to treatment failure as assessed by failure of NEDA (no evidence of disease activity) as represented by: no expanded disability status scale (EDSS) progression, no relapse, no new T2 lesion and no Gd-enhancing lesion. aHSCT appears highly efficacious in reducing inflammatory disease activity and relapses in active relapsing-remitting MS. Cohort data show a long-term stagnation of inflammatory disease activity for up to 10 years and more after aHSCT. However, efficacy data from randomised controlled trials comparing aHSCT with approved treatments are still lacking. The best available data concerning disease activity in MS patients with a documented treatment failure are from the CARE-MS II trial. The rate of patients without clinical or radiological disease activity after 2 years was 32% with alemtuzumab. aHSCT trial data on absence of disease activity show NEDA rates between 70 and 90% after 2 years. Here we assume 40% and 80% after 2 years for the ocrelizumab/alemtuzumab and aHSCT groups, respectively. For all three treatments, a potential long-term benefit has to be balanced with potentially harmful treatment related risks. A randomised controlled trial offers the opportunity to gain further information about efficacy and safety of all treatments and will give new insights into the immunology of high active RRMS.