Phase-III studies showed that Novartis’s oral MS drug Gilenya (fingolimod) did not help patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis, known by the shorthand PPMS.
The company said in its statement Monday that PPMS accounts for around 10% of multiple sclerosis patients and that it is typically diagnosed in patients later than other forms of MS, “when significant damage to the [central nervous system] has already occurred.”
There is no approved treatment for this form of the disease.
