German Merck cancer drug may treat MS

Germanys' Merck KGaA presented results showing that its oral cancer drug Cladribine (cladribine) caused a significant reduction in the rate of  clinical relapses, disability progression and brain lesions, as well as  a significant increase in the proportion of patients who remained  relapse-free, when used as a therapy for relapsing-remitting multiple  sclerosis, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology,  held in Seattle, Washington.

If launched onto the market, the drug could become the first MS medicine  that does not have to be injected. Merck hopes to apply for the  additional indication before the end of the year.

The results from both Cladribine treatment groups in the study  demonstrated a statistically-significant reduction in the annualized  rate of relapses compared to placebo. Patients treated with the low-dose  regimen of the drug experienced a 58% relative reduction in annualized  relapse rates with respect to placebo (0.14 versus 0.33 for the placebo  group; p<0.001). Patients in the high-dose regimen group experienced a  55% relative reduction in annualized relapse rates with respect to  placebo (0.15 vs 0.33; p<0.001).