A drug developed in Cambridge, UK, may provide a powerful new treatment for multiple sclerosis, researchers reported last night.
A study involving more than 300 patients suggests alemtuzumab may restore functions lost through the disease if side-effects can be counteracted.
The trial, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, also suggests the drug can stop the disease advancing in the early stage of relapsing-remitting MS – the "stop-go" form of the disease.
The drug was originally developed as the first humanised monoclonal antibody and is licensed for treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
The drug was compared with interferon beta-la, reported to be one of the best treatments for MS, and the study showed it reduced the number of attacks experienced by patients by 74 per cent compared with the interferon drug.
The study highlighted some side effects. About 20 per cent of patients developed thyroid gland problems – and one patient died from bleeding, caused by the loss of platelets in the blood supply.
Researcher Professor Alastair Compston, of Cambridge University, said: "Alemtuzumab is the most promising experimental drug for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, and we are hopeful that the Phase three trials will confirm that it can both stabilise and allow some recovery of what had previously been assumed to be irreversible disabilities."
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