The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7196 p597-604
4 May 2002

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Serono still claims benefits for Rebif over Avonex

Further data from a head-to-head study comparing two brands of interferon beta-1a in multiple sclerosis indicate that patients treated with Rebif, manufactured by Serono (the company that conducted the study), are more likely to remain relapse free than patients treated with Avonex.

Of the 631 patients in the open-label trial, 62 per cent of those who received Rebif remained relapse-free at 48 weeks compared with 52 per cent of those treated with Avonex. Patients who received Rebif also had fewer active brain lesions than those who received Avonex (0.9 versus 1.4 per magnetic resonance imaging scan, P<0.001).

The study data were presented at the American Academy of Neurology annual congress in Denver, Colorado. Data for the first 24 weeks of the trial were presented last year at the World Congress of Neurology in London. At that time, the design of the study was criticised by Biogen, manufacturer of Avonex (PJ, 30 June 2001, p875).