Early Initiation of Treatment with Copaxone (R) Provides Greater Effects in Delaying Conversion to Clinically Definite MS

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. /quotes/comstock/15*!teva/quotes/nls/teva (TEVA 54.70, +0.75, +1.39%) today announced new data from the five-year extension of the PreCISe study demonstrating that earlier initiation of treatment with Copaxone(R) (glatiramer acetate injection) in patients presenting with first signs of multiple sclerosis (MS), provided greater effects in delaying conversion to clinically definite MS (CDMS) compared to later treatment initiation after diagnosis of CDMS or after three years on the study. Early treatment with Copaxone(R) reduced the risk of progression to CDMS by 41 percent (p=0.0005) compared with delayed treatment and delayed time to conversion to CDMS by almost three years or 972 days.

The study reached both its primary and secondary clinical and MRI endpoints, all of which were significantly positive. Earlier initiation of treatment with Copaxone(R) significantly slowed the rate of brain atrophy over the five-year study period. Additional secondary MRI results showed that the cumulative number of new T2 lesions (p<0.0001) p="0.0005)">

"The PreCISe five-year results underscore the clinical benefit of early treatment initiation with Copaxone(R) to delay the onset of this chronic disease by almost three years and reduce brain damage as shown by the deceleration of brain atrophy," said principal study investigator, Professor Giancarlo Comi, Director of the Department of Neurology and Institute of Experimental Neurology at the University Vite Salute, San Raffaele, Italy. "These long-term findings reinforce previously published PreCISe data, confirming the positive effect of Copaxone(R), even before a definite onset of MS, and establishing it as a core treatment for MS. Finally in MS what is lost is never regained and it particularly applies in the early phase of the disease."

The PreCISe five-year results were presented during two late-breaking news sessions at the 26th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS).