Sanofi Genzyme said it presented six years of data on the use of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) to treat patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) at the 69th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).
The data from the treatment courses for RRMS with Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) showed that patients who relapsed between the first course of treatment and the second course, one year later, had similar long term results as the patients who did not relapse between the treatments, Sanofi Genzyme said in a release. The first course was administered intravenously over five days. Twelve months later, the patients received the second course of treatment over a three day period.
“Relapses are not uncommon following the initiation of disease-modifying therapies for relapsing MS," The MS Center for Innovations in Care Director Barry Singer said in the release. “Approximately 25 percent to 45 percent of RMS patients treated with DMTs (disease-modifying therapy) experience relapses in the first year or two of treatment. The new Lemtrada data being presented at AAN suggest that occurrence of relapses in patients after receiving their initial course but before receiving their second course is not an indicator of lack of response to the treatment, and support the importance of administering the full two-course regimen."
