New Multiple Sclerosis Drug Proves Effective Where Others Have Failed

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121031214144.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 31, 2012) — Alemtuzumab, a drug previously used to treat a type of leukemia, shown to help people with early multiple sclerosis who relapsed on previous drugs as well as patients who had not yet been treated.

A drug which 'reboots' a person's immune system has been shown to be an effective treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who have already failed to respond to the first drug with which they were treated (a 'first-line' therapy), as well as affected individuals who were previously untreated. The results of these two phase III clinical trials were published November 1 in the journal The Lancet.

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In the CARE MSII trial, confined to patients who had recently relapsed on a licenced therapy, new episodes were reduced by 49 per cent more than that achieved by the current standard treatment for MS, interferon beta-1a. Over a two year period, 65 per cent of patients on alemtuzumab compared to 47 per cent of patients on interferon remained relapse free. Additionally, alemtuzumab reduced the risk of acquiring disability by 42 per cent compared to interferon: disability worsened in 20% of interferon patients and 13% of alemtuzumab patients. Moreover, at the end of the study, on average, patients taking alemtuzumab had less disability than when they started the trial whereas those on interferon had experienced worsening disability.

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The results of a second phase III clinical trial (CARE MS I) also examined the effectiveness of alemtuzumab against the drug interferon beta-1a but in 581 drug-naïve patients.

It found that alemtuzumab reduced the number of attacks experienced by people with relapsing-remitting MS by 55 per cent over and above that achieved by interferon beta-1a. Over a two year period, 78 per cent of patients on alemtuzumab compared to 59 per cent of patients on interferon remained relapse free. The proportion of patients experiencing worsening of disability on this trial was slightly lower after alemtuzumab than interferon beta-1a, but this result was not statistically significant.

For both studies, the principal side-effect of treatment with alemtuzumab was the development of other autoimmune diseases. During the trials, roughly 20 per cent of patients developed thyroid autoimmunity and 1 per cent developed an immune thrombocytopenia. Previous work has shown that up to 30 per cent of patients may develop autoimmune thyroid disease over time.

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