Interferon beta and glatiramer acetate continue to be potent, cost-effective disease modifying therapies (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis patients after 6 years, reported Dr. Jacqueline Palace of Oxford (England) University.
In a clinical cohort study of 4,137 patients with relapsing MS, both Markov and multilevel statistical models showed slower progression than predicted, with a reduction of 24.2% and 40% in Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) progression, respectively. Measures of cost effectiveness showed a better utility progression ratio than the expected 62% target (Markov model: 58.5%, 95% CI 54.2-62.8; multilevel model: 57.1%, 95% CI 53.0-61.2).
The findings support a “predicted long-term effect of multiple sclerosis DMTs in patients with relapsing-onset disease, consistent with their UK cost-effectiveness at an aggregate level,” Dr. Palace and her colleagues said in the report.Read the full paper online in the Lancet.