Women With MS Less Likely Than Men to Receive Disease-Modifying Therapies

THURSDAY, July 31, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) are less likely to receive disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) than men, according to a study published online July 30 in Neurology.

Antoine Gavoille, M.D., from Hospices Civils de Lyon in Bron, France, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study involving 22,657 patients with a relapsing-remitting MS onset between 18 and 40 years to examine potential therapeutic inertia in women.

The researchers found that women were significantly less likely to receive a DMT (odds ratio, 0.92) or a highly effective DMT (HEDMT; odds ratio, 0.80). The difference became apparent at two years and one year after disease onset for DMTs and HEDMTs, respectively, with no significant difference observed by patient age. Throughout their entire period of availability, teriflunomide, sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor modulators, and anti-CD20s were significantly underused in women; interferon β and natalizumab were used less initially and then used equally; and glatiramer acetate and fumarates were used equally at first and then used more frequently in women. In analysis of 5,268 women from the first childbirth, the proportion of treated women began to decline 18 months before childbirth, from 42.6 percent to 27.9 percent at the estimated time of conception.

“Anticipation of pregnancy was probably an important factor in this difference between women and men with MS, but there could also be a reluctance to use these treatments when they may actually be the best way to manage the disease and delay disability,” coauthor Sandra Vukusic, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Lyon in France, said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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