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Mexico.- A recurrent multiple sclerosis can be resolved through a revolutionary oral treatment that promises to reduce epidemics by 67% and up to four years, said a specialist at Efe.
"This is a new oral therapy that has been proven to work in MS patients, which allows the disease to be transmitted and to slow down its disabling effects without the need for frequent treatment or monitoring," said Luciano. Rossetti, executive vice president of Merck Pharmaceuticals. .
The therapy, he explained, is short-lived, as it is reduced to two cycles of four-year oral treatment, which means fewer days of treatment.
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune, chronic and inflammatory disease in which the immune system attacks myelin, an insulating coating around nerve cells in the brain and / or spinal cord, as an alien substance.
It is a previously incurable disease that affects more than 2.3 million people worldwide, 85% of whom have some form of recurrent illness.
In Latin America, the number of patients reaches 50,000 to 100,000, while in Mexico, about 20,000 people are affected by this disease.
Merck Pharmaceutical has created this drug called cladribine tablets specifically for the treatment of people with a very active EMR, with frequent outbreaks and progression of disability.
However, it will not be a drug of choice, nor will it be made available to all those affected.
"This new treatment is considered a very effective drug because it manages to dramatically reduce the number of outbreaks and slow the progression of disability," said Merck's global director and development.
According to Rossetti, this new drug is the first disease modifier to offer four years of control of this disease with a maximum oral dose of 20 days in the first two years.
In addition to putting the disease in remission, patients will have the opportunity to have this treatment shorter, which will also mean saving money.
"One of the major effects of this disease is economic because the costs associated with medications, relapses and progression of disability are high," Rossetti said.
It is estimated that 70% of multiple sclerosis cases occur between the ages of 20 and 40, affecting the quality of life of young adults in the most productive phase of their lives.
In addition, 25% of patients will need a wheelchair 15 years after diagnosis.
In addition, RRMS can become invalid and leave the patient unemployed, as about 50% of patients with this disease lose their job between 3 and 10 years after diagnosis.
Rossetti said that the efficacy of this new treatment was demonstrated in three clinical trials involving 2,700 patients.
"In patients with high pathological activity, analyzes of the CLARITY two-year phase III clinical trial showed that cladribine tablets reduced the annualized rate of outbreaks by 67% and the risk of confirmed progression of EDSS syndrome ( Expanded Scale of State of Disability) at 6 months of 82% compared to placebo, "he explained.
Among the side effects of this new drug, there is a reduction in the number of lymphocytes, infections and a potentially higher risk of malignancy.
This medicine is contraindicated in pregnant women, people with chronic active infection, eg tuberculosis or hepatitis, HIV, severe or moderate kidney or liver disease.
While women of childbearing age should avoid pregnancy during treatment and at least 6 months after the last dose of the year.
Rossetti said the treatment had been approved in more than 40 countries, including Canada, Argentina, Chile and some countries of the European Union, and that it will be in the coming months when it will reach Mexico and Latin America.
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