BETAFERON clinical experience and safety

Accumulating data show that BETAFERON is particularly valuable when given early in MS, ideally at or shortly after the first neurological episode suggestive of MS [1-4]. This is in line with leading guidelines advocating that MS patients should begin treatment early in their disease course to maximize brain health [5,6]. It is widely agreed that a forward looking long-term treatment approach is important in MS, a disease not just of weeks to months but of years to decades.

BETAFERON is an established first-line MS therapy with a well-characterized benefit-risk profile [7]. As an interferon beta therapy, it maintains an important role in the treatment of relapsing MS [8], especially in patients with mild-to-moderate disease. An extensive body of evidence suggests long-term benefits of interferon beta treatment compared to no treatment or initial placebo including reduction of disability progression [9], reduced mortality [10,11] compared to no treatment or initial placebo and reassuring safety findings [12]. Confidence is further enhanced with ample outcomes data in first trimester interferon beta-exposed pregnancies [13] as well as the possibility of breastfeeding while taking interferon beta [13].

Importantly, BETAFERON has not been associated with impaired immune surveillance [14] and substantial datasets confirm its favorable benefit-risk profile over the long-term [12]. Moreover, the use of BETAFERON is supported by more than 30 years [15] and an estimated 1.7 million+ patient-years of clinical experience [16]. In general, the most frequently observed adverse reactions are a flu-like symptom complex (fever, chills, arthralgia, malaise, sweating, headache, or myalgia), which is mainly due to the pharmacological effects of the therapy, and injection site reactions [13].