Phase II data presented today at the 15th European Neurological Society (ENS) meeting in Vienna showed that FTY720, a novel oral medication for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), reduced the rate of clinical relapses by more than 50% and inflammatory disease activity as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by up to 80% over six months compared to placebo.
Benefits of FTY720 therapy were seen as soon as after two months of treatment and continued to increase over the six month treatment period compared to placebo. Over 90% of patients completed the study.