Schering AG’s Betaferon® Approved in Europe as a First-Line Treatment for the Earliest Stages of Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Schering AG, Germany has been granted marketing authorization by the European Commission for the extension of Betaferon® (interferon beta-1b)’s indication to include the treatment of patients with a first clinical event suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS) in all 25 European member states, including Iceland and Norway.
This approval makes Betaferon® the only high-dose high-frequency therapy approved for the treatment of the earliest stages of MS.
"Effective treatment early in the course of the disease is important since studies have shown that irreversible nerve damage and brain atrophy can occur in the earliest stages of MS. We now have the ability to treat patients from the earliest sign of MS with therapy that has an excellent safety profile over 16 years," said David Bates, Professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and Chairman of the MS Forum.
This label extension of Betaferon® was based from the results of BENEFIT, the study which showed that Betaferon® 250 mcg treatment in the early phase of the disease reduced the risk of developing CDMS by 50 percent.
Read more at Schering AG press release.
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