Teva marks one million patient years of Copaxone use

Teva has hailed the ongoing success of its multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment Copaxone after the treatment reached one million years’ worth of patient experience.

It has reached this milestone after becoming available in 1996 and was the first non-interferon treatment to be made available for treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

The drug is designed to reduce the number of relapses suffered by patients, including those who have experienced a first clinical episode and have MRI features consistent with the condition.

Teva has also highlighted the positive results yielded by its long-term clinical trial of the treatment, which has been ongoing for 19 years in order to continue reinforcing Copaxone’s safety and efficacy.

Moshe Manor, Teva’s group vice-president of global branded products, said: “Teva is committed to the MS community and continues to research new treatment options for MS, as well as invest in product enhancements aimed at improving patient comfort and compliance with Copaxone.”

The company is currently in the process of acquiring fellow generic drug company Ratiopharm, a transaction which will allow Teva to become the largest generics specialist in Europe.