Biogen Idec announces positive Tysabri data

Biogen Idec has jointly announced with Elan that Tysabri (natalizumab) has left five times as many multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers free from disease activity than those taking a placebo.

Retrospective analytics using the Affirm study at two years found that after using the treatment, 37 per cent of subjects stayed free of any disease activity, compared to seven per cent on the placebo.

These results will be published in the March 2009 edition of medical journal the Lancet Neurology.

One of the report’s authors Dr Steven Galetta – who is professor of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine – said the data was “encouraging”.

“They suggest that disease remission might become an increasingly attainable goal in MS treatment,” he added. “The ultimate treatment goal in MS … is to help patients remain symptom-free for as long as possible.”

According to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, about 85,000 people in the UK suffer from the disease.