the immune system attack on nerve fibers, said Bebo, who was not involved with the trial.
“It slows down dramatically the pathways that lead to relapsing MS,” Bebo explained.
The FDA approved fingolimod for use in adults in 2010, and the new trial is part of agency requirements to test new drugs in pediatric patients, Bebo said.
The peak age of MS onset is the 30s and 40s, but about 3 to 5 percent of patients develop symptoms of the disease in childhood, researchers said in background information.
For the clinical trial, 215 young patients were randomly assigned to take either fingolimod, which is an oral drug, or interferon beta-1a, which is injected.
Fingolimod kept MS from progressing in more than 8 out of 10 children taking the drug for two years, more than double the percentage of kids taking interferon beta-1a.
Fingolimod also slowed the development of