Novartis shows a hole card in a high-stakes PhIII poker game for MS drugs
Novartis floated a new, positive data point from its recently completed Phase III study of siponimod (BAF312), an S1P receptor drug that is being advanced for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS).
Investigators for the pharma giant turned up at the annual meeting of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis to say that they tracked a 21% reduction in the risk of disability progression in the drug arm, comparing it to the placebo group. They also mapped a “significant” improvement in patients’ annualized relapse rate but failed to see the data pan out for an improvement in a 25-foot walking test, a classic way to check for improvements in physical function.
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