The current treatment landscape for myasthenia gravis

Francesco Sacca, MD, PhD, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy, discusses the treatment landscape for myasthenia gravis (MG). Until recently, the only treatments for MG were corticosteroids or non-steroidal immunosuppressants, and pyridostigmine as symptomatic treatment. Patients non-responsive to the standard treatments would be treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) or plasma exchange (PLEX). Those receiving PLEX often have to be admitted to hospital, and there can often be limitations in the availability of IVIg. There are also many patients who don’t respond to these treatments. The first clinical trial for the use of the complement inhibitor (CI) eculizumab in MG yielded positive results. This opened the door for more complement inhibitors to be developed. These were followed some years later by the first FcRn inhibitor, efgartigimod, which was followed by several other anti-FcRn treatments. These are now being used in clinical practice, treating patients that either continued to have measurable signs of disease on the standard treatments or had adverse events. This interview took place at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Annual Meeting 2024 in Helsinki, Finland.
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