There were over 2,000 patients studied in clinical trials for FTY 720 multiple sclerosis, the first oral therapy for the relief of MS symptoms. Approval was sought by the drug company Novaris before the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMEA) in December 2009. The original request was for the 0.5 mg dose because it presented the most benefits over potential risks compared to the 1.25 mg dosage. It was cleared by the FDA in 2010 and is now prescribed under the name Fingolimod.

FTY 720 MS proved to provide very substantial improvements over the standard medications that were administered by injection or infusion. Most of the patients involved in the trials sustained benefits from relapsing multiple sclerosis symptoms over two years, with some patients involved over 6 years. Patients had shown up to 60% fewer relapses compared to those receiving placebos. There were 52% …

Traditional MS drug therapies used up through and until the mid 1990’s were all immunosuppressives.  Fingolimod or FTY720 multiple sclerosis treatment has been studied since it was first synthesized in 1992.  FTY720 MS therapy belongs to the group of drugs known as immunomodulators.  That is to say it is like the so-called ABC drugs that started to be used in the mid-nineties.  These drugs – Avonex, Betaseron, and Copaxone are also in the category of immunomodulators.  While the traditional immunosuppressives would treat the immune system as an entire system, or globally, these ABC drugs fight a specific part of the immune system that has become overactive in relation to MS.  But Fingolimod or FTY720 multiple sclerosis, (MS) treatment is newer.  In fact, it didn’t gain approval until 2010 in the US and 2011 in Europe, Canada, and Australia.  Originally developed as an anti rejection medication for post-transplant patients, it was …