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Oral Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis — Sea Change or Incremental Step? William M. Carroll, M.B., B.S., M.D., F.R.A.C.P.

The long-awaited arrival of oral formulations for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis is welcome news for the estimated 2.5 million people worldwide who have this chronic, disabling disease. Since the publication of the first pivotal trial of interferon beta-1b in 1993,1 practitioners and patients alike have been anticipating the approval of oral therapies because of the relative ease of administration, which should improve adherence and reduce restrictions on lifestyle.......................http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseact ... ageid=1309

Hi.

We have already had immune suppressants in pill form. What 's so special about this? Its "novel" mode of action is technically novel: No other drug keeps T cells inside the lymph nodes instead of simply destroying them.

The other novel thing about it is that other drugs come from blood cancerous diseases, where destroying affected cells is mandatory, while Fingolimod is useless there, so the creators targeted MS "to fill the gap" of an oral treatment and their pocket. Perhaps, we will see it being tested in some real autoimmune (i.e. lupus) diseases in the future.

Personally, I think it is nothing new to be happy about, but yet another immune suppressant. As if our problem was how we could suppress the immune system... Only time will tell how effective it might be, but I have the feeling that it is going to be no more effective than the already available immune suppressants. Of course, we are going to see many "success stories" to reach the media when hte drug is about to be released. Just like interferons, Tysabri, Copaxone...

I wish I am wrong here.

sou(r)