Going by the findings of a new research published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, two experimental oral medications for multiple sclerosis (MS) – Merck’s cladribine and Novartis’ fingolimod – can play a notable role in reducing the rates of relapses in MS patients.

The results of as many as three studies, pertaining to the gauging the effectiveness of cladribine and fingolimod in combating ‘relapse-remitting’ type of MS, reveal that the drugs could, at times, keep 80 percent or more of MS patients relapse-free during the study period.

One of the research teams, led by Jeffrey A. Cohen, director of experimental therapeutics at Cleveland Clinics’ Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis, randomly assigned to 1,153 patients either of the three treatments - a 1.25 milligram fingolimod dose; a 0.5 milligram fingolimod dose; and the established MS treatment comprising intramuscular jab of interferon beta-1a (Avonex) at a weekly
30 micrograms dose.

Upon comparing the MS relapse rates in the three treatment groups after a year, the researchers found that the relapse rate was lower in the two groups that were administered fingolimod.

Cohen told WebMD: “The two drugs reduced the relapse rate by 38 percent to 52 percent;” thereby implying that there was a liklelihood of a relapse after every five or six years rather than every three to four years.