Teriflunomide is a New Multiple Sclerosis Drug Treatment from drug manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis that doctors and patients hope can soon be added to the arsenal of drug weapons to fight the disease that afflicts more than 400,000 patients in the United States alone.
In a Canadian study, patients with the relapsing-remitting form of MS (RRMS) were randomly appointed to take either the Teriflunomide pill or a placebo. The group taking the oral multiple sclerosis drug had a 31 % reduction in their relapse rates when compared to the placebo group.
Another study, conducted concurrently in these Multiple Sclerosis drug trials, tested the drug at different dosing levels. It was concluded that the progression of the disease was reduced by almost 30% in the group taking the drug at the higher of the two levels.
These levels of relapse reduction and disease progression reduction are not particularly remarkable when taken alone. There are already approved treatments that produce similar results. But the fact that these results were achieved with an oral drug (pill) makes the results significant. As of now, the only approved oral treatment for disease modification is the Novartis Multiple Sclerosis drug Gilenya. These results were just published in October of 2011, making the news some of the latest available in the ongoing battle against MS.
Side effects vs. benefits trade off not fully understood yet in new multiple sclerosis drug Teriflunomide
Generally speaking, the more effective a Multiple Sclerosis drug therapy is, the more side effects have to be considered. That is always the challenge. Since MS makes the body’s own immune system attack itself, the myelin sheath of the nerve in particular, the general avenue of research usually involves somehow taming or toning down the autoimmune response of the patient. If you bring the response down too much, it leaves the patient more vulnerable to other infections and diseases that would otherwise be fought off with a normal autoimmune response. It’s a real balancing act.
But Teriflunomide, being a new Multiple Sclerosis Drug Treatment, works differently than other MS drugs already approved and in use. While the exact action of the drug is not fully understood yet, the results achieved were well documented and the trial was highly controlled. The drug was well tolerated in general and the two year study showed that the group taking the drug had fewer lesions that than the placebo group as determined by MRI scans. There was no improvement noticed in fatigue, which is a major complaint among MS patients.
The hope is that it can be used in conjunction with other therapies to enhance the results. Most of the hope lies in treating the relapsing-remitting form of MS. But much more study needs done to assess the safety.
