Bayer Introduces Self-injecting Device to Help Growing Number of MS Patients in Middle East

An increase in multiple sclerosis cases in the Middle East and North Africa has prompted Bayer to introduce to the region an injector that patients can use to treat themselves.

Researchers have suggested that increases in the region’s cases stem from many people adopting Western lifestyles, including smoking and using sun protection products, obtaining too little vitamin D, and being exposed to environmental problems like air pollution.

Bayer said its auto-injector will be the first component of an innovative dose delivery system for MS. Patients can use it by itself or as part of a software-based system that keeps track of their injection history and allows them to share information with healthcare providers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a supplemental biologics license application in 2017 for two Bayer products designed to help MS patients keep track of their injections of Betaseron (interferon beta-1b. The approvals were for myBETAapp and Betaconnect Navigator software.

The navigator allows patients to use Bluetooth technology to connect their autoinjector to a  myBETAapp on their cellphone or laptop. The connection lets them share their injection information with their healthcare team. Patients can also manually enter injection information into the myBETAapp.

“Multiple Sclerosis is a rising concern across the region,” Jihad Inshasi said in a news release that Bayer provided to Multiple Sclerosis News Today. “It is a difficult condition to diagnose due to the complexity and variability of symptoms, which may vary from one person to the other.

“Being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis is a critical life event and can have a big impact on a patient’s life,” he said. “However, with the new treatments in hand, patients can alleviate the conditions that arise from the disease” and doctors can “improve the quality of life of people living with this condition.”

Inshasi is a neurologist who directs the MS clinic at Rashid Hospital in Dubai. He is also a member of the Middle East North Africa Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis.