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].
Strategies to improve tolerability of BETAFERON
Betaferon prescribing information
References
- Naismith RT. Mult Scler 2016; 22(11): 1400-1402. Return to content
- Naismith RT. Neurol Clin Pract. 2011; 1(1): 69-72. Return to content
- Kappos L et al. Neurology 2016; 87(10): 978-87. Return to content
- Kappos L et al. American Academy of Neurology. Annual Meeting 2019, P3.2-080. Return to content
- Montalban X et al. Mult Scler 2018; 24(2): 96-120. Return to content
- Rae-Grant A et al. Neurology 2018; 90 (17): 777-88. Return to content
- Kompetenznetz Multiple Sklerose: Qualitätshandbuch, 2022. Available at: https://ms-qualitaetshandbuch.de/ (Accessed August 18, 2022). Return to content
- Madsen C et al. Brain Behav 2017; 7: e00696. Return to content
- Signori A et al. Mult Scler Rel Disord 2016; 6: 57-–63. Return to content
- Goodin DS et al. Neurology 2012; 78: 1315-22. Return to content
- Kingwell E et al. Brain 2019; 142(5): 1324-33. Return to content
- Reder AT et al. Mult Scler Relat Disord 2014; 3(3): 294-302. Return to content
- BETAFERON European Summary of Product Characteristics, October 2020. Available at: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/product-information/betaferon-epar-product-information_en.pdf Return to content
- Grebenciucova E and Pruitt A. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 2017; 17: 88. Return to content
- The IFNB Multiple Sclerosis Study Group. Neurology 1993; 43(4): 655-61. Return to content
- Calculated based on Bayer sales data from 1993 to 2020. Return to content
