Following is a news release based on an article published in the March issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). The AAN is an association of more than 15,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. For a copy of the full article or for more information, contact Sarah Parsons at (612) 695-2732 or by e-mail [email protected].
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL MONDAY, MARCH 23, 1998
Multiple Sclerosis Drug Sustains Effect Over Extended Period The multiple sclerosis (MS) drug glatiramer acetate (previously called copolymer 1) sustains its effect for patients for at least 21/2 years, according to a study published in the March issue of Neurology, the American Academy of Neurology's scientific journal.
MS patients receiving daily injections of glatiramer acetate sustain significantly fewer relapses and experience less disability with few adverse side effects, according to Kenneth P. Johnson, MD, study co-author and neurologist at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore.
"After approximately 30 months of glatiramer acetate therapy, patients had 32 percent fewer relapses and a 50-percent decrease in risk of measurable neurologic disability," Johnson said.
The study was an extension of a two-year study comparing 251 MS patients who received glatiramer acetate or placebo (inactive) daily injections for 24 months between 1991 and 1994. In the original study, patients on glatiramer acetate had significant reductions in relapses and improved neurologically, while those receiving placebo had more relapses and worse disabilities. The study was extended approximately six months to gain more information about the effect of the experimental drug on MS. This extension confirmed that glatiramer acetate is well tolerated and safe and that continued treatment maintains the drug's positive effects.
"MS is a highly variable disease during which some patients worsen and then improve for a time," Johnson said. "Nevertheless, the long-term pattern is of progressive worsening resulting in substantial disability. Fifty percent of all MS patients require a walking aid, cane, crutches or a wheelchair within 15 years after diagnosis."
Glatiramer acetate was approved for marketing in the United States in December 1996 for treatment of relapsing/remitting MS. It is marketed under the commercial name Copaxone(tm). The most common side effects reported were mild, short-lived skin reactions at the injection site and, in a small number of patients, a brief facial flushing and chest tightness.
"Neurologist now have options to offer MS patients," said Johnson. "Glatiramer acetate, with its significant effect on MS relapses and disability and its excellent history of patient tolerance, should be considered as a first-line drug for the prevention of relapses and as replacement treatment for patients who fail therapy with the beta interferons or are unable to tolerate their side effects."
MS is a recurrent or progressive inflammation of portions of the brain or spinal cord. MS symptoms include partial or complete paralysis, visual loss, incontinence, jerking muscle tremors and loss of balance. An estimated 300,000 Americans are currently diagnosed with MS.
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