Interferon beta-1b 250 mcg(1) treatment delayed the onset of clinically definite multiple sclerosis (CDMS) by one year (363 days) in patients with first clinical signs of multiple sclerosis (MS) compared to placebo, according to new findings from the BENEFIT (Betaferon/Betaseron in Newly Emerging MS For Initial Treatment) study presented at today's joint 21st Congress of the European Committee for the Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis/10th Annual Meeting of the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS/ACTRIMS), Thessaloniki, Greece, by Professor Ludwig Kappos, Professor of Neurology and Clinical Neuroimmunology at the University of Basel, Switzerland.

Results from the study showed that treatment may significantly delay the development of CDMS. Patients in the treatment group experienced an additional 363 days delay in development of CDMS compared to the placebo group. At day 255 of the study, one-quarter of patients in the placebo group had developed CDMS, while it took 618 days for a comparable number of patients to develop CDMS in the treatment group. At the end of the two-year period, 45 percent of the placebo group compared with 28 percent in the interferon beta-1b group (p< 0.0001) had developed CDMS, a relative risk reduction of 50 percent in the group treated with interferon beta-1b. {CLICK FOR MORE}