Therapies for Multiple Sclerosis

Recent progress makes it clear that we are in a new era regarding therapeutics for multiple sclerosis (MS). After a long history of treating MS symptomatically, the past two decades have brought a new armamentarium of diseasemodifying therapies that modulate the autoimmune response in a variety of ways. The clinician may now select from 8 medications approved for MS by the US Food and Drug Administration! Between 1993 and 2004, the main platform medications were injectable (either subcutaneous or intramuscular), but recently approved agents utilize intravenous and oral delivery routes [1, 2]. These factors can have a major impact on patient convenience and adherence. The clinical data regarding these developments are of great importance to the treating neurologist, who will be charged with balancing the risks and benefits of newly approved therapies in aiming to select appropriate choices for the patient. This syllabus will review clinical data regarding MS therapies that have been recently approved or are cu ently in phase 3 clinical trials.