Market and Competition MS

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, inflammatory condition to the nervous system and the most common non-traumatic neurological disease in young adults, afflicting approximately 600,000 people in the seven largest markets and approximately 2.5 million people worldwide.

In MS, the protective myelin covering the nerve fibers in the central nervous system is damaged resulting in disrupted nerve signal transfer. The etiology is unknown but evidence suggests an interaction between a genetic susceptibility and an external factor, possibly virus. While symptoms can vary the most common symptoms of MS include blurred vision, numbness or tingling in the limbs and problems with muscle strength and coordination.

Most patients diagnosed with MS are between the ages of 30 and 50. Medium duration of the disease is over 30 years with women more likely to be afflicted. Studies have shown that costs to society related to MS are substantial since around 70% of the patients will become unemployed and around 30% eventually become wheel chair bound.

MS can be categorized into five different subtypes (see illustration below), where an estimated 85% of the patients diagnosed with MS can be categorized into the relapsing-remitting subtype. Disease progression is characterized by one or two flare-ups every one to three years, with symptoms that tend to worsen with each flare-up. About 85-90% of the relapsing-remitting MS patients experience secondary progressive MS with steady deterioration and some measurable degree of physical disability.

On average, patients spend some ten years in the relapsing-remitting stadium of the disease but are likely to develop secondary progressive MS over time. The remaining 10-15% with relapsing-remitting MS experience Benign MS where patients have mild to moderate symptoms but no permanent disability. Approximately 10% of the patients diagnosed with MS develop primary-progressive MS characterized by rapid and continual deterioration from the beginning of the disease. The remaining 5% experience a progressive-relapsing MS with development similar to the primary-progressive MS, but with sudden episodes of worsened symptoms.