MS drug pipeline update from Bayer Schering

Speaking on behalf of Germany's Bayer Schering at a press conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, Karl Baum, chief of staff at the neurological clinic at Hennigsdorf hospital, Germany, told the press that the company has a number of alternative-administration multiple sclerosis treatments in the pipeline and expects them to be marketable within three-four years.

MS is currently only treatable through injections once every two days. MS sufferer, Betina Olesen, reported at the conference first-hand the experience of "needle phobia" she developed during early treatment with Bayer's Betaferon (beta interferon 1-b) injection. The firm currently markets an auto-injection system with the smallest needle available to the public for MS sufferers, but still hopes it can find an alternative treatment method.

Klaus Marten, vice president of Bayer's Betaferon global sales team, told the Marketletter that his company had one oral treatment and one infusion treatment currently undergoing trials. The infusion treatment, currently in Phase III development, involves patients visiting a clinic for daily treatments over five days, after which no further treatment would be required for 12 months. He added that most patients only required three treatments before the effect was achieved.