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Article History

Received: 30 March 2018

Accepted: 28 August 2018

First Online: 5 September 2018

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: The study received ethical approval from the Kyushu University Hospital Ethics Committee (approval number 29–173), and written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

: Not applicable.

: YN, AA, LB, and MA declare that they have no competing interests. LG reports personal fees from Novartis AG. TM received a grant and payment from Bayer Schering Pharma and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company for manuscript preparation and for development of educational presentations, and also received speaker honoraria payments from Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, Bayer Schering Pharma, and Biogen Idec Japan. Till S received previous and/or current payments for consulting, speaking activities (Actelion, Biogen Idec, Electrocore, Sanofi Genzyme, Mitsubishi Pharma, Teva, Novartis), and grants (EFIC-Grünenthal, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Switzerland, Swiss MS Society, Swiss National Research Foundation). EWR received speaker honoraria and travel compensation from Bayer Schering, Biogen, Fondazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla, Genzyme, Novartis, Merck Serono, MorphoSys, and Synthon; consulted for Bayer Schering, Biogen Idec, Fondazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla, Genzyme, Novartis, Merck Serono, Synthon, and MorphoSys; and received institutional research support from Novartis, Biogen Idec, Actelion, Basilea, SAKK, and Synarc. JW is CEO of MIAC AG. He served on scientific advisory board for Actelion, Genzyme, Novartis, Teva, and Roche; he received travel support and/or speaker honoraria from Bayer, Biogen, and Novartis; he received research support from the EU (Horizon2020), the German Ministry of Education and Research and the German Ministry of Economy. KS has received grants from the Japan Intractable Disease Research Foundation, Japanese Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; and received personal fees from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company and Biogen Japan. NI has received grants and personal fees from Tanabe Mitsubishi Pharma, Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd., and Japan Blood Products Organization. RY has received grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Bayer Schering Pharma, Biogen Idec Japan, Novartis Pharma, and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma; and received research support from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Japan. Takahiko S has received funding from, held board membership of, spoken at scientific meetings for, prepared manuscripts for, and had consulting agreements with Astellas Pharma, Bayer Schering, Biogen Japan, Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai, Kaketsuken, Merck Serono, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, Nihon Pharmaceutical, Novartis Pharma, Ono Pharmaceutical, Sanofi, TDS Japan, and Teijin. LK’s Institution (University Hospital Basel) received exclusive research support at the Department of Neurology, including steering committee, advisory board, and consultancy fees from Actelion, Alkermes, Almirall, Bayer, Biogen, df-mp, Excemed, GeNeuro SA, Genzyme, Merck, Mitsubishi Pharma, Novartis, Receptos, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, Santhera, Teva, and Vianex, and royalties from Neurostatus products. For educational activities of the Department, the institution received honoraria from Allergan, Almirall, Bayer, Biogen, Excemed, Genzyme, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Teva, and UCB. LK has served as principal investigator for the following drug studies: BOLD EXT, EXPAND (BAF312, Novartis), DECIDE, DECIDE EXT (Daclizumab HYP, Biogen), ENDORSE (BG00012, Biogen), FINGORETT, FTYUMBRELLA, INFORMS, INFORMS EXT LONGTERM (Fingolimod, Novartis), MOMENTUM (Amiselimod, Mitsubishi) OCRELIZUMAB PHASE II EXT, OPERA, ORATORIO (Ocrelizumab, Roche), REFLEXION (IFN β-1a, Merck), STRATA EXT (Natalizumab, Biogen Idec), and TERIFLUNOMIDE EXT (Teriflunomide, Sanofi-Aventis). Research at the MS center in Basel was supported by grants from Bayer, Biogen, Novartis, the Swiss MS Society, the Swiss National Research Foundation, the European Union, and Roche Research Foundations. The institution has also received grants for patient services from Bayer, Merck, and Teva. JK has received grants from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Japan, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, AMED, Japan; and received grants and personal fees from Biogen Idec Japan, Bayer Healthcare, Novartis Pharma, and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, Eisai, Sanofi, Nobelpharma, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Chugai Pharmaceutical Company, and Teijin Pharma. This independent academic research was supported by Novartis Pharma A.G., Novartis Pharma K.K., and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, who provided baseline demographic data for the patients analyzed. Novartis and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation played no role in the design, methods, data management, or analysis of the study, or in the decision to publish.

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