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Wednesday, December 12th,
2007
The next 10 years should see further improvement in treatment prospects
for people with multiple sclerosis, according to a report published
by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)
today.
The past decade has seen "astonishing" growth in activity
in MS research and there is now a substantial number of potential
new therapies in the later stages of clinical testing.
There are good reasons for optimism for the estimated 85,000 people
in the UK suffering from this debilitating condition, first identified
140 years ago. They are:
- Oral medications that may reduce dependence of frequent self-injection,
to improve quality of life for people with MS.
- Several agents being tested for treating progressive forms of
the condition, for which there have been few options up until
now.
- Agents that work by new mechanisms to be used either alone or
in combinations.
"Multiple sclerosis is an excellent example of how advances
in medicines are usually made in steps," said Dr Richard Barker,
Director General of the ABPI. "It's just a dozen years since
the first medicine to treat MS was licensed, and now there is a
large number of these in development.
"This healthy pipeline of research would not exist without
the previous experience of those first medicines to build upon,
and a pricing structure that rewards stepwise innovation."
Multiple sclerosis is the most common disabling condition of the
central nervous system in young adults in their twenties and thirties
with the number of new cases diagnosed each year estimated at 2,500.
While it is not commonly a primary cause of death, it imposes large
costs and quality of life burdens through disability - estimated
to average more than £30,000 a year per individual in the
UK.
The ABPI report, Target Multiple Sclerosis, says the discovery and
development of new treatments is a time-and-resource-demanding activity
and even with the new options under advanced study, the situation
of people with MS will not be transformed overnight.
"Nevertheless, with such intense research activity, this exploration
of new ideas is opening up new prospects for disease management,"
the report states.
It highlights the greatest prevalence of MS in Scotland and Northern
Ireland with lower levels being found in south Wales and southern
England.
Geographical variation is one of the most striking features of the
condition - it is most common in northern countries such as Canada
and Scandinavia and lowest in countries near the equator.
"This variation provides evidence for the significance of exposure
to sunlight as a protective factor," the report concludes.
Target Multiple Sclerosis has been written by Dr Stephen Bartlett.
It can be ordered online and is also available in HTML format. Copies are free.
NOTE TO EDITORS
There is a range of guides in the Target series covering a variety
of diseases and conditions. For a comprehensive list, and to view
the guides, please go to: www.abpi.org.uk
For further information, please contact:
Richard Ley (work) 020 7747 1410 (mobile) 07715 169727
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