The humoral response against SARS-CoV-2 one month after vaccination in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) may depend on the medicines used to treat their condition, Swiss researchers say.

While patients taking cladribine or teriflunomide appear to generate an appropriate response, there is a diminished or absent response in their peers treated with anti-CD20 therapies or sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulators, they report.

Previous studies have shown the mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 are safe in people with MS, but the humoral response to the vaccine was markedly reduced in patients treated with the anti-CD20 agent fingolimod or the S1P modulator ocrelizumab.

The Swiss team aimed to replicate these findings, test other disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) and investigate whether delaying anti-CD20 infusions can enhance IgG production following vaccination.