According to study chairman, Fred D. Lublin, M.D., Saunders Family Professor of Neurology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine-Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis, "This is a very important trial because, if effective, combination therapy will allow us to take advantage of these agents that have different and complementary mechanisms of action to slow or halt progression of MS."
An estimated 400,000 Americans suffer from MS, a chronic neurological disease that affects the central nervous system. MS is most commonly diagnosed in young adults. Relapsing-remitting MS, the most common form of new cases of the disease, is characterized by episodes of attacks of neurologic dysfunction, which occur over many years.
Approximately 130,000 MS patients are receiving either FDA-approved interferon beta-1a weekly (Avonex) or glatiramer acetate daily (Copaxone) to treat relapsing forms of MS. However, because these agents provide only a partial amelioration of the risk for additional attacks and development of disability, there is a major and continuing need for better therapies. As yet, there is no cure for MS.
CombiRx will determine whether the combination of these treatments is more effective than either treatment alone. This trial is unique among placebo controlled studies, in that none of the participants will receive placebo alone. All parti
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11-Apr-2006