Hardly a Sound as a Second Oral MS Treatment Enters the Market

When the first MS Pill come onto the market there were front news stories, doctor’s offices were flooded with questions and the manufacturer’s stock price did a healthy spike. This past fall, the FDA approved (and the market will soon see) a second oral medication to help fight multiple sclerosis… but not many are talking about it. We wondered why. First, a bit about the drug. The name of the compound in the drug is called Teriflunomide. It is an active metabolite of another drug, Leflunomide, which many people with rheumatoid arthritis have been taking for over a decade. The marketing name of this drug is called “Aubagio” (pronounced oh-BAH-gee-oh which rhymes with that Vegas hotel with the dancing waters). This new drug has been tolerated well in trials, has similar efficacy as many of the other MS drugs and, while not side-effect free, seems to be on par in most other ways. In an effort to make the drug more affordable (or to encourage insurance companies to push for its use) Aubagio has been price below the injectable class of MS drugs. Why then has so little buzz been around our community? I don’t think it’s the side-effect profile; even though one of these would have pretty serious repercussions for both women and men intending to have children. As a matter of fact, though the drug was approved last fall and many people first heard of it last week when a video, released by the National MS Society hit the internet. The last twenty years have seen us go fro...
Source: Life with MS - Category: Other Conditions Authors: Tags: MS pills MS treatment oral ms treatment teriflunomide Source Type: blogs