Manipulating the functionality and structures of π-conjugated polymers utilizing intramolecular noncovalent interactions towards efficient organic photovoltaics.

Careful control of electronic properties, structural order, and solubility of π-conjugated polymers is central to the improvement of organic photovoltaic (OPV) performance. In this work, we designed and synthesized a series of naphthobisthiadiazole-quaterthiophene copolymers by systematically replacing the alkyl groups with ester groups and changing the position of the fluorine groups in the quaterthiophene moiety. These alterations lowered the HOMO and LUMO energy levels and systematically varied the combination of intramolecular noncovalent interactions such as O⋯S and F⋯S interactions in the backbone. More importantly, although the introduction of such noncovalent interactions often lowers the solubility owing to the interlocking of backbone linkages, we found that careful design of the noncovalent interactions afforded polymers with relatively high solubility and high crystallinity at the same time. As a result, the power conversion efficiency of OPV cells that used fullerene (PC61BM) and nonfullerene (Y12) as the acceptor was improved. Our work offers important information for the development of high-performance π-conjugated polymers for OPVs.

Real-world evidence from Germany and the United States: Treatment initiation on low-efficacy versus high-efficacy therapies in patients with multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: The hit-hard-and-early (HHAE) strategy where treatment is initiated with high-efficacy therapies opposed to low-efficacy therapies presents a potential paradigm shift in multiple sclerosis (MS) management. This study aimed to assess the adoption of the HHAE strategy in Germany and the United States (US) from 2020 to 2022 based on real-world data. METHODS: The analysis was based on longitudinal, patient-level data from Germany and the US. For Germany, data was extracted from the Permea platform covering approximately 44 % of all German community pharmacy dispensing. For the US, data from the Komodo Healthcare Map™ was utilized, covering medical benefit data from around 88 % of the US patient population. Patients ≥18 years old and who had at least 2 prescriptions for MS-related disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) between January 2020 and December 2022 were included. To approximate therapy beginners, a washout period of one year before treatment start was applied, excluding all patients who had an MS-related DMD prescription or claim in 2019. Cohort entry date was the day of the first MS-related DMD dispense or claim. DMDs were classified as high-efficacy and low-efficacy based on the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Consensus Group (MSTCG). Group differences were assessed with two-sided χ2-square and t-tests. RESULTS: 29,604 MS therapy beginners were identified in the German and 49,791 MS therapy beginners were identified in the US dataset. 29.6 % of MS therapy beginners in Germany and 61.6 % in the US followed the HHAE strategy. Between 2020 and 2022, a significant 14 % increase in the HHAE strategy was observed in both countries (p < 0.0001). High-efficacy therapy beginners switched from their initially prescribed therapy less frequently than low-efficacy therapy beginners: 6.9 % of high-efficacy vs. 19.5 % of low-efficacy therapy beginners in Germany (p < 0.0001) and 5.5 % of high-efficacy vs. 25.0 % low-efficacy therapy beginners in the US (p < 0.0001) switched from their first prescribed DMD. CONCLUSION: Between 2020 and 2022, the adoption of the HHAE strategy increased in both countries, with the US exhibiting nearly double the adoption rates. High-efficacy therapy beginners were less likely to switch from their initially prescribed medication than low-efficacy therapy beginners. Real world evidence can provide valuable insights into rapidly changing treatment patterns in patients with MS.