Highlights of the 29th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in MS (ECTRIMS), Copenhagen, DK, October 2-5, 2013 – Two new analyses have examined the relative merits of maintaining treatment with a first-line injectable compared to escalating therapy. A US study retrospectively analysed a claims database to identify MS patients managed with a lateral switch from an interferon to glatiramer acetate, and those managed with treatment escalation from an interferon to fingolimod during a one-year period (October 2010 to September 2011) (Bergvall et al. ECTRIMS 2013; abstract P635).
The total sample was 606 patients. After switching, the proportion of patients with one or more relapses was 29.5% for those on glatiramer acetate compared to 16.7% for those on fingolimod; the duration on therapy was 282 days for the glatiramer acetate group and 307 days for the fingolimod group. The annualized relapse rate (ARR) was 0.55 for the glatiramer acetate cohort versus 0.27 for the fingolimod cohort. The probability of having a relapse was 61% lower for patients switching to fingolimod rather than to glatiramer acetate (p=0.0008), with fingolimod-treated patients experiencing 53% fewer relapses per year (p=0.0004). Read More