Drug facilitates multiple sclerosis therapy

Longer effective preparation facilitates therapy of multiple sclerosis

05/05/2014

Tens of thousands of people in Germany suffer from multiple sclerosis (MS). The incurable neurological disease is mainly treated with the drug beta-interferon. An improved version of the drug could facilitate therapy in the future.

New version of an old drug
In the future, a new version of an old drug for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients could make therapy much easier. Instead of the usual two days every day, they would only have to inject the changed interferon every two weeks. Like an international team around Peter Calabresi from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (Maryland), according to a message from the news agency dpa in the journal „The Lancet Neurology“ writes, the drug peginterferon proved in a registration study.

More than 180,000 people affected by MS
In the incurable neurological disease MS, the immune system attacks the myelin sheaths, which surround the nerve fibers of the central nervous system. This can, for example, cause movement or vision problems. In Germany, more than 180,000 people are affected. To date, beta-interferon, introduced in the 1990s, is the leading agent in MS therapy. It is supposed to inhibit the immune system. However, many patients suffer from influenza-like side effects such as headache, muscle aches or fever after the injections. Many people would be stopped by the therapy.

To make life easier for patients
The addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG) now extends the duration of action in the body in the new preparation. One third of the participants received the remedy two or four weeks apart and the others received a sham. When given for two weeks, peginterferon reduced the number of relapses by approximately 36 percent compared to placebo. In addition, the number of new nerve damage was 67 percent lower and the progression of disability by 38 percent. In addition, less than one percent of patients developed antibodies that weaken the drug's effect. In conventional beta interferon, however, it is about 20 percent. Almost half of the subjects reported flu-like side effects. For the most part, these results were consistent with trial results on conventional beta interferon. „The data is very, very clear“, Calabresi said. „We can make life easier for our patients without dangerous side effects, simply by optimizing a 20-year-old drug.“

Expert expects approval of the drug by the turn of the year
As Professor Ralf Gold of the Department of Neurology at the University of Bochum believes, peginterferon is an option for those approximately 30,000 patients nationwide who are currently receiving beta-interferon. According to the neurologist, taking them could be significantly easier. „But those who had side effects so far, they will continue to keep.“ Professor Gold expects peginterferon to be approved in Europe by the turn of the year. Unexplained are still the exact causes that can lead to MS. Although clear scientific evidence is still missing, however, present findings point to a multifactorial disease with the involvement of genetic factors and environmental influences. (Sb)