Proposed Drug May Improve Walking Ability for MS Patients

A new drug now being developed may someday help people with multiple sclerosis (MS) walk better, increasing their ability to get around and boosting their overall quality of life, new medical research suggests.

The drug, called fampridine, is under development by Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. of Hawthorne, New York. If approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the drug could be the first medication to reverse a common symptom of MS, according to researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.

About 400,000 people in the United States and more than 2.5 million worldwide have MS, a disease in which the body’s immune system interferes with the functioning of nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord and prevents communication between the brain and the rest of the body.

There is no cure for MS and existing drugs only work to slow progression of the disease.

Study Shows Encouraging Improvement

In the study, 301 adults in the U.S. and Canada took 10 milligrams of the drug twice a day. More than one in three MS patients who had difficulty walking due to their disease were able to improve their walking speed after taking fampridine for 14 weeks. Patients taking a placebo pill were only able to improve their walking eight percent of the time, according the university study.

MS patients taking fampridine were able to walk 25 percent faster over a distance of 25 feet than they could do so before taking the drug, researchers reported. People taking the drug also had stronger legs and were better able to walk, stand, and climb stairs, the study found.

FDA Considering Drug Approval Now

Acorda submitted a new drug application for fampridine to the FDA on January 30. The status of the application and a possible timeline for approvals were not known. In order to approve the drug, the FDA must find that fampridine is safe and effective for its intended purpose.

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