THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 21, 1996 TAG: 9609210298
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: GAITHERSBURG, MD. LENGTH: 45 lines
Although no cure exists for multiple sclerosis, a new drug holds out the promise that some sufferers will have fewer attacks and a better quality of life as a result.
The drug, copolymer 1, got the go-ahead Thursday from an advisory panel of doctors and other scientists. The Food and Drug Administration usually follows such recommendations.
If approved, the drug would become the second type available to treat mostly people with mild to moderate forms of the crippling disease of the central nervous system. The other two drugs, both new, are similar to each other.
``The last three years have brought a major change in the way we view and the way we're able to manage multiple sclerosis,'' said Stephen Reingold, vice president for research and medical programs at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, hailing the new drugs.
Unlike steroids and other drugs used to treat symptoms, the newcomers and several others being tested fight the disease itself.
By inhibiting MS attacks, copolymer 1 lessens the chance that patients will suffer progressively worse disabilities that would leave them unable to get around without wheelchairs or other walking aids, researchers said.
The advisory committee, however, said research data arguably showing that some patients had improvements in their physical ability were questionable.
About 300,000 Americans suffer from multiple sclerosis, which attacks myelin, a fatty substance that insulates nerves. Sufferers experience fatigue, vision problems, tingling or numbing in the arms and legs and other symptoms during early attacks of the disease.
The disabling attacks can last for months. It mostly attacks people in their 20s and 30s, women more than men. U.S. physicians diagnose 8,800 new cases each year.
Copolymer 1, a protein, resembles a component of myelin and apparently tricks the body's immune system into attacking it instead of the myelin, although scientists don't know exactly how or why the drug works.
Questions may be addressed to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at 1-800-FIGHT MS.
KEYWORDS: FDA MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS DRUG by CNB