ANN meeting highlights: Novartis' Gilenya, Lundbeck's Azilect, Orion's ODM-101, Biotie's tozadenant

Among the highlights of the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology taking place in San Diego, Swiss drug major Novartis (NOVN: VX) presented data from three large Phase III studies - TRANSFORMS, FREEDOMS, and FREEDOMS 2 showing that Gilenya (fingolimod) significantly and consistently reduced the rate of brain volume loss against a comparator in multiple sclerosis patients.

In the TRANSFORMS study, Gilenya reduced brain volume loss by -32% over one year period compared to Avonex (p<0.001). Over two years, Gilenya reduced the rate of brain volume by 35% (p<0.001) compared placebo in the FREEDOMS study; and by 33% (p<0.001) in FREEDOMS II study. Data also indicated that Gilenya reduced annualized relapse rates across the groups; and additional data reinforced the safety of Gilenya in patients treated up to four years.

"Loss of brain volume is a consequence of multiple sclerosis and is a key MRI correlate of disease progression," said Dr. Timothy Wright, global head development at Novartis Pharmaceuticals AG, adding: "The findings reported show the effect of Gilenya across a variety of important disease measures and support evidence for initiating early use of this highly effective treatment in patients with relapsing MS."