BETASERON

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with Betaseron (interferon beta-1b) had over 90% treatment compliance — the percentage of doses administered — over one year, according to a study of data collected by the BETACONNECT autoinjector and the myBETAapp. After one year, the number of patients still using Betaseron…

One of the toughest decisions facing someone with MS is whether to begin treatment with a disease-modifying therapy (DMT). Equally tough, I think, is deciding which DMT road to travel — because there are three roads that can be followed. One path starts you on a simple, first-level medication.

Four disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for  multiple sclerosis — Avonex, Rebif, Betaferon, and Copaxone — are cost-effective and reduce disease progression in MS patients, especially those with relapsing-remitting disease, according to 10-year, real-world results from U.K.’s MS Risk Sharing Scheme (RSS). But the long-term benefits observed wane over…

Long-term exposure of at least three years of beta-interferon therapies such as Rebif or Avonex may increase the survival of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, a population-based study suggests. The study reporting the findings, titled “Beta-interferon and mortality in multiple sclerosis: a population-based international study,” was presented Friday at the ongoing ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting…

Most multiple sclerosis patients who try Bayer’s BETACONNECT auto-injector stick with their treatment, a study reports. The electronic product may overcome the problem of many patients failing to stick to a therapy  schedule because of what they consider hassles connected with injections. An auto-injector is one that patients can use…

A patient satisfaction evaluation of three autoinjector devices for delivering multiple sclerosis treatments found that Bayer’s electronic autoinjector Betaconnect was the choice of 57 percent of the 85 people who took part in the study. Higher satisfaction with an autoinjector can lead to better adherence, or patients sticking with treatment,…

Have you ever hit a brick wall trying to self-inject? I have. It was with Avonex, the first DMD that I used. To make a long story short, after a couple of years of poking myself in the thigh muscle, I just couldn’t do it anymore. That’s…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a supplemental biologics license application for two Bayer products that help multiple sclerosis patients keep track of their injections of Betaseron (interferon beta-1b). The products are the myBETAapp and the Betaconnect Navigator software. A biologics license application is a request for permission to market…

(Editor’s note: Today, Tamara continues her occasional series on the MS alphabet by giving further attention to the letter B.) When it comes to multiple sclerosis, mastering an understanding of the disease means you need to mind your Ps and Qs, dot your Is, cross your Ts, and recite…

Relapsing multiple sclerosis patients who begin taking Betaferon/Betaseron (interferon beta-1b) immediately after the first MS-related neurologic symptoms appear may realize slower disease progression than those who delay treatment, according to a study evaluating the therapy’s effects over a decade in patients enrolled in a Phase 3 clinical trial. The study, “The 11-year long-term follow-up…

Global pharma Bayer Healthcare aims to improve human health by diagnosing, preventing, and treating a variety of diseases. The company currently provides products for general medicine, hematology, neurology, oncology, and women’s healthcare. In 1993, Bayer’s Betaseron (interferon beta-1b) became the first disease-modifying drug to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for…

Bayer HealthCare is pleased to announce the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the approval of BETACONNECT, a first-of-its-kind electronic autoinjector indicated as a treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). For now, the drug delivery device is only compatible with BETASERON® (interferon beta-1b), and will soon be available come early 2016.  While…