Instituut voor Neuropathische Pijn
English articles Research & Development Dalfampridine: old bird poison helps MS patients walking..
| Dalfampridine: old bird poison helps MS patients walking.. |
In Annels of neurology an editorial on 4-Aminopyridine: New Life For an Old Drug. Fampiridine we called in in the past, it was an old bird poising at one time long ago. I have reviewed clinical data of that old potassium channel inhibitor for symptomatic improvement of MS many years ago, in order to possibly licence it in for a certain pharmaceutical company. You could function a bit better, due to an improvement of impulse conductance of the nerves. At that time, many, many years ago, I felt that the symptomatic improvement was too little and the side effects to troublesome to put development energy into the drug. Since then various pharmaceutical industries must have looked into the files of fampiridine in MS. Now, the FDA approved the drug for walking difficulties in patients suffering from MS.
Fampiridine for increased walking distance: worth the price?The clinical efficacy however, is still debatable and the editor remarked: Marginal efficacy, high cost, and potential safety concerns might dampen enthusiasm for the drug in the marketplace. [1] The statistical differences between fampiridine and placebo clearly were documented in 2 pivotal trials, but the magnitude of the effects were small and the question remains how clinical relevant this all is, if also the costs of $13,000 annually are taken into account... The more so, because generic fampiridine can be obtained at every compounding pharmacist, and will costs 50 times less.. This drug, with the propensity for inducing epileptic insults, will not be the big break trhough for MS patients. [2] It would surprise me, when the EMA reviews the package of this drug, if the approve fampiridine for the European market. July 2010, Jan M. Keppel Hesselink, MD, PhD Referenties[1]: Hauser SL, Johnston SC. | 4-aminopyridine: new life for an old drug. | Ann Neurol. | 2010 Jul;68(1):A8-9. |