The interferon beta therapies for treatment of relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis: are they equally efficacious? A comparative review of open-label studies evaluating the efficacy, safety, or dosing of different interferon beta formulations alone or in combination

Abstract

Interferon beta preparations are the most widely used initial therapies prescribed for patients with relapsingremitting multiple sclerosis. Phase III studies have demonstrated comparable efficacy on clinical measures of disease activity, variable benefits on radiological measures, and good overall tolerability. Subsequent clinical studies have attempted to compare directly the three available interferon beta preparations, reporting both safety and efficacy data. We review the literature on studies evaluating interferon beta therapy for patients with relapsingremitting multiple sclerosis, discuss reasons for discrepant findings, and assess the utility of interferon beta-based combination regimens as the focus of future studies in the increasingly complex multiple sclerosis therapy landscape.

MicroRNA Expression Changes during Interferon-Beta Treatment in the Peripheral Blood of Multiple Sclerosis Patients

“…Three different preparations of IFN-beta are in clinical use. They differ in dose, route, and frequency of IFN-beta administration, but they are comparable regarding clinical efficacy [6]. …”

Determining the Presence of Reliable Change over Time in Multiple Sclerosis

“…Most reassessments of MS patients receiving interferon beta (IFNβ) treatment occur at 3-to 6-month intervals. 30 This study found differences in the results of using the two different methods for determining individual change in MS patients. The simple SD method assumes a change in performance if the difference score exceeds the group mean of the difference scores by more than 1 SD.…”

Does interferon beta therapy affect survival of multiple sclerosis patients?

“…Their survey was discussed in detail by Limmoroth et al [33]. Most of the studies have not revealed any significant differences in the efficacy of the respective interferon beta preparations, which seems to confirm their similar impact on mortality rate.…”