Novartis gains FDA approval for new oral multiple sclerosis drug

[Elmore Furth]

Up until now daily treatments of multiple sclerosis involve injections. Now there is a new drug which can be taken orally.

WASHINGTON — Federal health regulators have approved the first pill to treat the underlying causes of multiple sclerosis, a debilitating nervous system disorder that has traditionally been treated with injectable drugs.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Swiss drugmaker Novartis' treatment Gilenya to reduce relapses in patients with multiple sclerosis, who experiences loss of balance, muscle spasms and other movement problems.

"Gilenya is the first oral drug that can slow the progression of disability and reduce the frequency and severity in MS," said the FDA's director of neurology products, Russell Katz.

About 2.5 million people around the world have multiple sclerosis, with an estimated 400,000 of them in the U.S. In the most common form of the disease, patients experience periods of well-being followed by periodic relapses.

Novartis gains FDA approval for new MS drug