New drug may make life easier for multiple sclerosis patients

At 30 years, Alastair Farrugia started to progressively lose control of both of his legs.

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, he has fought against the odds to continue living a relatively normal life five years later.

“I had to make changes,” the 35-year-old says, looking back on the past five years, as from one year to the next he began to walk more and more slowly.

Having moved out of his flat and back into his parent’s house “because of the stairs”, Mr Farrugia could no longer catch the bus because he simply could not make it to the bus stop.

Luckily, he has an adapted car to make his way around and has made some changes in the house, like a walk-in shower instead of a bath, to make his life easier.

As he holds on to the back of chairs to make his way around the room, it is evident by the look in his eyes that this computer programmer and university lecturer does not give up easily.

“If I didn’t have MS my life would be very different but I’m coping,” he says, pointing out, however, that going abroad now is very difficult.

The disease affects different people in different ways and he knows of other sufferers who are younger than him and are worse off. His own situation is bad enough though. Being pro-gressive, rather than the symptoms coming and going, as other forms of MS are, the power of Mr Farrugia’s limbs is gradually worsening.

“When I was first diagnosed I thought, well, maybe they will find a cure because there is always research going on…”

The cure has so far eluded the medical community but the treatment has improved. Mr Farrugia has had to take two injections a day for the past five years. However, there is now a new treatment, Gilenya (fingo-lomoid) approved by the European Commission last week, which does away with the injection and replaces it with a daily pill.

The pills would make life easier for people like Mr Farrugia but the most important thing for him is the drug’s effectiveness.

“Switching to a different medication has many factors and how effective it is against MS is the most important factor. Fingolo-moid is supposed to be more effective,” he said.

Indeed, the drug company Novartis, which produces Gilenya (the trade name for fingolimod), said it showed superior efficacy to interferon beta-1a injections, a commonly prescribed treatment, reducing relapses by 52 per cent after trial patients took the drug for a year. However, this benefit is associated with an increased risk of life-threatening infection.

Moreover, some people have such nasty side-effects to the injections that they have to decrease the drug drastically, or not take it at all, Mr Farrugia points out.

The Health Ministry has so far been unable to confirm whether the new treatment, like the injections, will be available free for patients locally, saying an application for inclusion had to be submitted by the Marketing Authorisation Holder, adding that it would then undergo a health technology assessment.

Multiple Sclerosis

MS is a disease that affects the central nervous system, in other words the brain and spinal cord. These send messages to the rest of the body through electrical impulses, which are hindered in MS because nerves and their insulation sheets, known as myelin, are damaged.

The disease generally affects young adults, women more than men. In Malta, some 200 people suffer from the disease.

Symptoms in MS can include problems with vision, mobility and coordination.

In some cases MS can cause pain, speech disturbances or emotional impairment. Fatigue is very common.