Novartis to present positive Gilenya data at AAN 2014

Novartis has announced that it will be sharing positive clinical data on its multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Gilenya at the upcoming annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).

The company will attend the conference in Philadelphia event at the end of the month to discuss the consistent efficacy of Gilenya on four key measures of MS disease activity – reducing relapses, new MRI lesion counts, brain volume loss and disability progression.

Analysis from the Freedom I and Freedom II studies will show that significantly more Gilenya-treated patients had brain volume loss rates comparable to people without MS than those receiving a placebo.

The firm will also present trial design information on Paradigms, a new study that will assess the effectiveness of Gilenya among paediatric patients.

David Epstein, division head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, said: "People with MS lose brain volume up to three to five times faster than people without MS and this data will highlight the importance of a treatment that can minimise brain volume loss in patients."

Gilenya is the first oral therapy approved to treat relapsing forms of MS, as well as being the first in a class of compounds called sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor modulators.