This study aims to characterize patient-reported outcomes in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) who switched to diroximel fumarate (DRF), showing promising results in symptom severity and disability after 1 year of treatment.

DRF is an oral fumarate approved for relapsing forms of MS, expected to offer similar safety and efficacy to dimethyl fumarate (DMF) with improved gastrointestinal tolerability. There is limited evidence on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in individuals treated with DRF in real-world settings. 

The objective of this study was to characterize PROs in North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) Registry participants who were treated with DRF for at least 1 year. The study included participants with relapsing MS in the United States, assessing disability status and MS symptom severity through surveys over a 12-month follow-up period.

Results showed that 51 out of 90 NARCOMS participants met the inclusion criteria for the study, with a mean age of 59.0 years and a majority being female (90.2%) and White (90.2%). The average disease duration was 19 years, with most participants diagnosed with MS at the age of 39.3 years and the majority using DMF as their disease-modifying therapy. The baseline Patient-Determined Disease Steps (PDDS) score indicated moderate disability, but 41.7% of participants had none-to-mild disability. 

Following 12 months of DRF, 72.9% of patients reported stable or improved PDDS scores and most reported stability or improvement in MS symptom severity across various domains. These included walking, hand function, spasticity, bodily pain, sensory issues, bladder function, fatigue, vision, cognition, depression, anxiety, and dizziness.

“Most participants had switched to DRF from DMF, and mean age was older than observed in clinical trials,” said researchers. “After 1 year on DRF, most participants experienced either stability or improvement on patient-reported measures of symptom severity and disability.” 

Reference 
Salter A, Lancia S, Cutter G R. Characterizing changes in disability and multiple sclerosis symptom severity in NARCOMS registry participants with multiple sclerosis after 1 year of treatment with diroximel fumarate; CMSC 2024; May 29-June 1, 2024; Nashville, TN; Abstract DMT09.