Shots, Infusions, or Pills for Your MS?

There are more than a dozen disease-modifying therapies available to treat MS. Some are shots, some are infusions, and some are pills. Some are more effective than others.

The marketing intelligence company Spherix Global Insights regularly surveys which of these treatments are being used by neurologists and what’s influencing their selection. Here’s what the latest Spherix quarterly survey shows about what’s being prescribed for new MS patients.

Just over half of the 100 neurologists surveyed say they’re choosing a pill as the first disease-modifying treatment for relapsing MS no matter what level of disease activity a newly diagnosed patient has.

But for the other half of surveyed neurologists, the treatment choice is influenced by the level of disease activity. If a patient’s disease activity is low, 54 percent of that group preferred pills, such as Tecfidera, Gilenya, and Aubagio. Thirty-nine percent preferred injectables, such as Copaxone. If the disease activity is high, however, their treatment choice is one of the meds considered to be highly efficient, such as Gilenya, Tysabri, or Ocrevus.

As someone who suffered “needle fatigue” using Avonex for many years, followed by several years of Tysabri infusions and then Lemtrada, I can tell you that I prefer an oral med. I think most MS patients would. But I also prefer the kind of treatment that’s likely to produce the best outcome for me.

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