Multiple Sclerosis - The oral revolution

The launch of five novel orally administered disease-modifiers is set to revolutionize the multiple sclerosis (MS) market, which will more than double in value across the seven major markets from 2006 to reach $10.7 billion in 2016.

There is a significant need for a MS treatment with superior efficacy to current therapies with a less invasive and time-consuming route of administration. Novartis' oral Fingolimod (FTY720) goes some way to meet these needs and represents the most highly anticipated pipeline drug since the initial launch of Tysabri in 2004.

Amid an increasingly competitive first-line therapy market, Datamonitor believes prospective players can gain competitive edge (and healthcare payer acceptance) by defining clear clinical differentiators in their trials. Head-to-head studies with a suitable comparator or showing benefit of add-on therapy represent two possible strategies.

Biogen Idec's Rituxan (rituximab) and BioMS' MBP-8298 are targeting the prevalent yet largely underserved primary progressive MS (PPMS) and secondary progressive MS (SPMS) indications. Datamonitor predicts that if Rituxan and MBP-8298 launch, then strong uptake can be expected.

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