Conflicts of interest
All of the authors were participants in a round table meeting which took place in Barcelona, Spain, in June 2013. This meeting was funded by Novartis Pharma AG. Medical writing and editorial assistance in the development of this paper was provided by Michael Shaw PhD (Anagram Communications, UK), and funded by Novartis Pharma AG. There is no relevant conflict of interest for all authors. Tjalf Ziemssen has received reimbursements for participation in scientific advisory boards, research support and speaker honorarium from Almirall, Bayer Healthcare, Biogen, Novartis Pharma AG, Merck Sharp & Dohme Merck Serono, Teva, Genzyme, and Synthon. Tobias Derfuss is a member of scientific advisory boards for Biogen Idec, Novartis Pharma, Genzyme, Merck Serono, Bayer Schering, Octapharma, GeNeuro, Roche, and has received travel funding and speaker honoraria from Bayer Schering, Biogen-Idec, Merck Serono, Novartis Pharma, Genzyme. He is a member of the editorial board of Plos One, steering committees by Mitsubishi Pharma, Novartis Pharma, and GeNeuro, and the executive board of ECTRIMS. He has received research support from Novartis Pharma, Merck Serono, Biogen-Idec, Swiss National Foundation, European Union, and the Swiss MS Society. Nicola Di Stefano has received honoraria from Schering, Biogen-Idec, Teva, Novartis, Genzyme, and Merck Serono SA for consulting services, speaking and travel support. He serves on advisory boards for Merck Serono SA and Novartis, and has received research grant support from the Italian MS Society. Gavin Giovannoni has received compensation for serving as a consultant or speaker for, or has received research support from, AbbVie, Bayer Schering Healthcare, Biogen Idec, Canbex, Eisai, Elan, Five Prime Therapeutics, Genzyme, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Merck-Serono, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, Synthon BV, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, UCB and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Filipe Palavra received speaking honoraria and travel expenses for scientific meetings from Bayer Healthcare, Biogen, Merck Serono, Novartis Pharma, Sanofi and Teva Pharmaceuticals. Davorka Tomic is an employee of Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland. Timothy Vollmer has received reimbursements and honorarium for participation in scientific advisory boards and research support from Abbvie, Acorda, Avanir, Biogen, Congrex, Consortium of MS Centers, DeltaQuest, EMD Serono, Genentech, Genzyme, Janssen Research, Krog & Partners, MedImmune, NIH, Novartis, Novartis Canada, Novartis Japan, Ono, Oxford Pharmagenesis, Roche, Rocky Mountain MS Center, Teva, Vaccinex, Xenoport. Sven Schippling has received consulting or speaker fees and travel support from Bayer Healthcare, Biogen, Genzyme, Merck Serono, Novartis, Sanofi and TEVA, and has received research support from Bayer Healthcare, Biogen, Genzyme and Novartis. He is supported by the Betty and David Koetser Foundation for Brain Research, the Swiss MS Society and the Clinical Research Priority Programme of the University of Zurich.