MULTIPLE sclerosis patients in the North-East have been among the first in the world to benefit from a promising new drug.

Seven patients under the care of Professor David Bates, from the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, have been taking part in a trial called Freedoms, which has involved a new type of drug called fingolimod.

Preliminary results from the study, published in October last year, showed that a daily fingolimod pill reduces relapse rates by about half.

It also reduces the progression of disability in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients by nearly a third.

Last night, the full details of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, along with the results of a much larger trial of fingolimod called Transforms.

The studies confirm that fingolimod is twice as effective as interferon, which is commonly used to treat MS. They also showed that taking daily fingolimod pills was also more effective than taking placebo pills.

Prof Bates said: “At last we have the potential of allowing our patients to take a daily pill instead of having to stick needles in themselves.”

Currently, people suffering from MS, which is an incurable, progressive and disabling condition, have to selfinject at least weekly or travel to hospital for drugs.

Dr Bates said: “Fingolimod seems to be more effective than the drugs we had before.”

Twelve North-East patients were originally considered for the fingolimod pill, but only seven were suitable cases.

The Freedoms trial lasted two years and assessed the effectiveness and safety of fingolimod, compared to a placebo.

It involved six UK hospitals. The bigger one-year Transforms study included four hospitals in the UK.

Fingolimod works differently to other MS treatments by stopping the immune system turning against itself.

Dr Eli Silber, a Freedoms investigator at the King’s College Hospital, in London, said; “Our ultimate goal is to limit the impact of this life-long condition.”

Dr Richard Nicholas, a Transforms investigator at Charing Cross Hospital, London, said: “This has the potential to change people’s lives, and fingolimod is the only oral treatment for MS with data like these.”

A spokeswoman for the manufacturer, Novartis, said it hoped the pill could be available on the NHS by the end of this year.