MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Octave (Octave), the developer of a fully integrated care management platform for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurodegenerative diseases, today announced the presentation of five posters at the ACTRIMS Forum 2021. The posters collectively highlight the company’s progress in developing measurement tools to address the opportunity to more accurately and precisely measure neurodegenerative diseases, such as MS, given their underlying complexity, heterogeneity and variation.

The posters presented by Octave Bioscience at the ACTRIMS Forum 2021 underscore the company’s commitment to the pursuit of revealing deeper clinical insights and addressing the multiple challenges and unmet needs associated with MS. This chronic, lifelong, debilitating disease is associated with high costs, significant variation in practice and generally poor outcomes. Current tools to evaluate and manage patients are often subjective, qualitative, and inadequate to address critical questions of interest.

Octave is developing a Comprehensive Care Platform to provide a quantitative, objective measurement system designed to expand clinical insights in neurodegenerative disease, beginning with MS. The Platform provides several layers of insight, two of which were the main focus of the company’s ACTRIMS posters this year. The first layer, which measures the patient’s underlying biology with blood based biomarkers was the topic of three posters. This includes the ability to quantitatively and objectively assess the overall disease activity of a patient while reporting on specific pathways involved with inflammation, immune modulation, neurodegeneration and myelin integrity. The second layer, which includes advanced and improved MRI readings and interpretation to reveal more insights at the central nervous system layer, was the topic of one poster, with an additional poster integrating Octave’s blood based biomarkers and improved MRI analyses to show the value of a holistic view of an MS patient. While not a topic of poster or presentation at this year’s ACTRIMS Forum, Octave’s third layer of insight is directed at tracking shifts and changes in symptoms and comorbidities via the integration of mobile tools, sensors and wearables.

In posters focused on the serum based assay, the company concluded that a validated multivariate proteomic blood-based assay for MS disease activity assessments could serve as an objective, minimally invasive and cost-effective tool to enhance the standard of care for MS patients and their physicians. Presenting research conducted with leading research institutions including the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the University of Basel, and the University of Pittsburgh, among others, these posters demonstrate the opportunity to integrate multiple biomarkers that cover disparate pathways to deliver quantitative, objective information on MS disease status as well as changes over time as a complement to conventional measures and endpoints.

The company also presented imaging data which showed that in 44% of patients analyzed, Octave’s quantitative imaging platform could identify new or enlarging white matter lesions – which are indicative of disease activity and progression – that were missed or misidentified by the standard of care of visual inspection alone. This platform was designed to address the need for more quantitative, objective reads that include important changes in lesion activity and the assessment of brain volume and other MS-specific measures. These findings demonstrate the potential impact of a fully integrated quantitative MRI solution on clinical decision making and patient outcomes.

The analyses presented on the serum assay and imaging program feed directly into Octave’s Comprehensive Care Platform under development, which the company believes will provide valuable, scientifically-measurable insights and data to provide a more holistic view of a patient’s disease and trajectory.

“The research presented at this year’s ACTRIMS Forum brings us even closer to addressing the significant challenges, issues and unmet needs in the MS ecosystem,” said William Hagstrom, founder and CEO of Octave Bioscience. “The measurement streams we are building, which survey the multiple pathways and multiple markers that drive this devastating disease, will help bring to life a platform that allows for a 360-degree and longitudinal view of each patient. We are pleased to present this important progress as the next step forward in the pursuit of better outcomes for MS patients.”

Octave Bioscience is building the model for the future of MS management, developing novel measurement tools that feed structured analytical data models to improve patient management decisions, create better outcomes and lower costs.

Following are the five posters accepted to the ACTRIMS Forum 2021, which can be found here:

• Clinical Validation of a Multivariate Proteomic Serum Based Assay for Disease Activity Assessments in Multiple Sclerosis (octavebio.com) (P014)
• Analytical Validation of a Multivariate Proteomic Serum Based Assay for Disease Activity Assessments in Multiple Sclerosis (octavebio.com) (P010)
• Proteomic Serum Biomarker Signatures Associated with Patient Reported Outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis(P025)
• Integrated Analysis of Novel MRI and Blood Serum Biomarkers for the Estimation and Prediction of MS Disease Activity and Progression (P020)
• Changes in the Detection of Clinically Relevant White Matter Lesions in MS Using FDA-Cleared Automated Software (P106)

About Multiple Sclerosis

MS is a chronic, lifelong, debilitating disease that affects approximately one million patients in the US, striking people in their 20s with a 2:1 prevalence in women. The disease is driven by autoimmune and inflammatory processes as well as neurodegeneration, including demyelination and axonal damage. Estimated lifetime cost of MS is more than $4 million and the estimated total cost in the U.S. is $28 billion.¹ MS is ranked second, behind only congestive heart failure, in direct all-cause medical costs.² While there are now more than 18 approved treatments called disease modifying treatments, drug prices have continued to rise, costing between $60,000 and $100,000 per year.²

About the Octave Bioscience Comprehensive Care Platform

Octave Bioscience’s Comprehensive Care Platform provides a quantitative, objective measurement system designed to expand clinical insights in neurodegenerative disease, beginning with MS. It provides multiple layers of insight to provide a 360-degree view with a longitudinal perspective of disease progression. The first layer measures the patient’s underlying biology with blood based biomarkers that quantitatively and objectively assess inflammation, immune modulation, neurodegeneration and myelin integrity. The second layer includes advanced measurement using improved MRI readings and interpretation to reveal more insights at the CNS layer, including the brain and spine. The final layer features real time tracking of symptoms via monitoring with mobile tools, sensors and wearables to identify changes in disease and alert care teams. All of this data is integrated into protocols, supported by decision support tools and feeds into a dashboard for ease of use. The Octave Platform allows individual and population views to facilitate better stratification and contextual interventions.

About Octave Bioscience

Octave Bioscience was founded to deliver an end-to-end care management platform for multiple sclerosis as well as a full range of neurodegenerative diseases. Its Comprehensive Care Platform is designed to provide neurologists and their patients with objective metrics to facilitate informed care and shared decision making for better patient outcomes. Octave Bioscience is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.

1. Optum.com, “Six Cost Drivers of Multiple Sclerosis”
2. J.Med Econ.2013; 16(5):639-47

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