Tysabri vs. Gilenya: Studies Conflict on Which Is Superior

Stuart SchlossmanMS Drug Therapies, MS Research Study and Reports, Multiple Sclerosis

Is natalizumab better than fingolimod? Flip a coin


BARCELONA — Results from two European cohort studies provide no clear answers on whether natalizumab (Tysabri) or fingolimod (Gilenya) offers better efficacy, researchers reported here.

One study from France found relapse rates to be lower with natalizumab, while another from Denmark revealed similar relapse rates in both groups. Both were reported during an oral session at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis meeting here.

Both drugs are approved for relapsing-remitting MS patients. They’re two of the spate of treatments for MS that have been approved in recent years, and clinicians and patients would naturally like guidance on whether any are clearly to superior to the others. But few head-to-head comparisons and no randomized controlled comparisons of the safety and efficacy of these drugs have been done.

There have been some observational data, but the findings are mixed. Indeed, two other recent studies — one by Braune et al. in the Journal of Neurology in 2013 and the other by Kalincik et al. in Annals of Neurology this year — came to similarly conflicting results. The Braune trial found no difference between the two drugs over one year, while the Kalincik paper found higher relapse rates with fingolimod.

.===================================
Visit our MS Learning Channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/msviewsandnews