Good point, Harry.

What bothers me about the hype around "reduced relapses rates" is that this is ONLY a secondary measure of these trials.

The PRIMARY measure is "reduced disease progression" (not sure if this is the exact wording they use, but ...) those stats aren't any better then the Avonex ones (according to xo's previous post).

Then you read an article like the following, and you have to wonder if stopping relapses is even the best course of action :

Curr Med Chem. 2006;13(19):2329-43.

Current status and future prospective of immunointervention in multiple sclerosis

Cavaletti G.
Dipartimento di Neuroscienze e Tecnologie Biomediche, Universita di Milano Bicocca, Via Cadore 48 - 20052 Monza (MI), Italy. guido.cavaletti@unimib.it.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex neurological disorder characterized by inflammation and degeneration of the central nervous system, primarily involving the white matter.

On the basis of a wide body of evidence in experimental models and in affected patients, several attempts to treat MS using drugs which modulate immune reactions have been performed or are currently ongoing.

However, it should be stressed that inflammation does not have only a detrimental effect in MS. In fact, parts of the inflammatory events are crucial for the control and conclusion of the acute phase of damage and it is probable that they actually favor regeneration and recovery.

Due to the above, several trials with immunosuppressant drugs failed or were suspended because of unexpected worsening of the course of MS.

The knowledge of MS immunopathogenesis is so rapidly evolving that any attempt to review it is in some way frustrating. On the other hand, this evolution is at the basis of the several new treatment options which can be hypothesized for this disease.

The current status of immunosuppression in MS and the possible future development of MS treatment will be reviewed, with particular reference to those treatments which have already been tested in clinical trials and which are based on sound evidence of a putative interference with specific events occurring in MS, with the sparing of general immunity.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/conten...rdihiqr1.alice

Cherie