Dr. Daniel Kantor, president of the Florida Society of Neurology and director of the Neurologique Foundation in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., said after the study’s presentation that "I think I speak for many people when I say, ‘wow.’ "
"Right now, as it stands, the data from the phase III trial are better than the phase II trial, which is not normally the case," Dr. Kantor said. He hoped that the CONFIRM trial can replicate the results of DEFINE and noted that no previous trial has compared an active drug against glatiramer acetate.
The study was supported by Biogen Idec. Dr. Gold disclosed receiving honoraria and research support from Bayer HealthCare, Biogen Idec, Merck Serono, Novartis, and Teva Neuroscience. Dr. Arnold has received consulting fees from Bayer HealthCare, Biogen Idec, Genentech, Merck Serono, NeuroRx Research, Roche, Schering-Plough, and Teva Neuroscience. Dr. O’Connor has received consulting fees and honoraria from Bayer, Biogen Idec, EMD Serono, Genentech, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, and Teva. Dr. Scolding had nothing to disclose. Dr. Kantor disclosed acting as an investigator or having commercial relationships with Acorda, Avanir, Biogen Idec (although not in relation to BG-12), Genzyme, Novartis, and Teva Neuroscience.