Conflict of interest statement: Declaration of conflicting interests: The 
author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to 
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: J.A.C. received 
personal compensation for consulting for Adamas, Celgene Corporation, Novartis, 
and PendoPharm and as a co-editor of Multiple Sclerosis Journal – Experimental, 
Translational and Clinical. G.C. received compensation for consulting services 
and/or speaking activities from Almirall, Biogen, Celgene Corporation, EXCEMED 
Forward Pharma, Medday, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Sanofi Genzyme, and 
Teva. D.L.A. received personal fees for consulting from Acorda Therapeutics, 
Biogen, Genzyme, the Immune Tolerance Network, Novartis, and Sanofi-Aventis; 
grants from Biogen and Novartis; and holds an equity interest in NeuroRx 
Research. A.B.-O. received personal compensation for consulting from Biogen, 
Celgene Corporation, EMD Serono, Medimmune, Novartis, Roche, and Sanofi Genzyme. 
K.W.S. served as a consultant for Biogen Idec, Celgene Corporation, Genzyme, 
Merck, Novartis, Ono Pharma, Roche, Synthon, and Teva. L.S. served as a 
consultant for Abbvie, Atreca, Celgene Corporation, Coherus, EMD Serono, 
Novartis, Teva, and Tolerion; and received research support from Atara, Biogen, 
Celgene Corporation, and Coherus. E.K.H. received personal compensation for 
consulting and speaking for Actelion, Biogen, Celgene Corporation, Merck, 
Novartis, Sanofi, Roche, and Teva and was supported by Czech Ministry of 
Education, project PROGRES Q27/LF1. B.A.C.C. received personal compensation for 
consulting from Abbvie, Biogen, EMD Serono, GeNeuro, Novartis, and Sanofi 
Genzyme. X.M. received speaking honoraria and travel expenses for scientific 
meetings or participated in steering committees or in advisory boards for 
clinical trials with Almirall, Bayer, Schering Pharma, Biogen, Genentech, 
Genzyme, GSK, Merck Serono, MS International Federation, National Multiple 
Sclerosis Society, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, and Teva; for serving as an 
editor for Clinical Cases for MSJ. H.-P.H. received fees for consulting, serving 
on steering committees, and speaking from Bayer HealthCare, Biogen, GeNeuro, 
Genzyme, Merck, Medimmune, Novartis, Octapharma, Opexa, Roche, Sanofi, and Teva. 
V.H. is a current employee of Celgene Corporation and is a stockholder in 
Celgene Corporation. P.F. is a former employee of Celgene Corporation (at the 
time of the study and analysis) and is currently employed by Bioniz 
Therapeutics, Inc. B.E.S. is a current employee of Celgene Corporation and is 
also a stockholder in Celgene Corporation. L.K.’s institution (University 
Hospital Basel) has received in the last 3 years and used exclusively for 
research support: steering committee, advisory board, and consultancy fees 
(Actelion, Addex, Bayer HealthCare, Biogen Idec, Biotica, Celgene Corporation, 
Genzyme, Lilly, Merck, Mitsubishi, Novartis, Ono Pharma, Pfizer, Sanofi, 
Santhera, Siemens, Teva, UCB, and Xenoport); speaker fees (Bayer HealthCare, 
Biogen Idec, Merck, Novartis, Sanofi, and Teva); support for educational 
activities (Bayer HealthCare, Biogen, CSL Behring, Genzyme, Merck, Novartis, 
Sanofi, and Teva); license fees for Neurostatus products; and grants (Bayer 
HealthCare, Biogen Idec, European Union, Merck, Novartis, Roche Research 
Foundation, Swiss MS Society, and Swiss National Research Foundation).