New data show Novartis' Gilenya benefited patients by improving all four key measures of RMS

Swiss drug major Novartis' (NOVN: VX) says that its blockbuster drug Gilenya (fingolimod), the first once-daily oral therapy approved to treat people with relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS), positively impacted the key measures for multiple sclerosis (MS) - relapse rates, brain volume loss, lesions and disability progression. Improving these key measures led to favorable clinical outcomes.

This new data on Gilenya – which generated sales of $421 million in the first quarter of this year - will presented at the 23rd meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS) which takes place June 8-11 in Barcelona, Spain.

New findings from the TRANSFORMS study showed that a greater proportion of patients were disease free after one year on Gilenya treatment compared to interferon. For patients on interferon during the first year, the proportion who were disease free during the second year increased after they were switched from interferon to Gilenya treatment. These findings suggest that switching from interferon to Gilenya is beneficial for patients with RMS to achieve and maintain long-term disease-free status.