Mavenclad does not stop vaccines working for people with multiple sclerosis

A new analysis has found that people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who take Mavenclad (cladribine) do mount a protective antibody response to the seasonal influenza vaccine, and the varicella zoster virus (chicken pox).

In patients who received the seasonal influenza vaccine, protective antibody levels were maintained or increased for at least six months regardless of lymphocyte counts measured at the time of vaccination in year one or two of Mavenclad treatment. In patients who received the chicken pox vaccine before year one of Mavenclad, protective antibody levels were maintained over six months after initiation with Mavenclad, despite lymphocyte depletion.

“Understanding vaccine efficacy in MS patients is particularly important in the face of the current pandemic and the growing availability of COVID-19 vaccines,” said Klaus Schmierer, Professor of Neurology at Queen Mary University of London and The Royal London Hospital, UK. “Whilst this new information is based on a small cohort of patients receiving influenza and varicella zoster vaccines, it provides physicians with preliminary evidence that patients taking Mavenvlad are able to mount and maintain effective vaccine responses.”