cqvip:Interferon (IFN) β.has been shown to be an effective therapy in pivotal studi es of multiple sclerosis (MS), with differences in outcomes based on dose and/or frequency of administration. Glatiramer acetate (GA) has also shown to have an effect on relapses and magnetic resonance imaging measures, but not on disabilit y. All products are associated with adverse events, and utilisation of a specifi c therapy needs to consider benefit in relation to risk. Evidence based medicin e provides a means f assessing benefit and risk in the context of the number of patients one needs to treat to obtain benefit (NNT) compared with the number nee ded to treat for an adverse outcome (NNH). Efficacy and safety data are presente d from IFN β 1a (Rebif) clinical trials, including relevant NNT and NNH val ues, to allow assessment of the overall benefit to risk ratio compared with pl acebo. Additional comparisons are made with published data for other IFN product s and GA. The indirect comparative information reviewed demonstrates that IFN ap pears to have a better benefit to risk ratio than GA. Indirect comparisons sug gest better efficacy of thrice weekly (tiw) IFN β 1a compared with alternate day IFN β 1b, but no direct comparative data are available. Direct comparative data show that IFN β 1a at a dose of 44 meg tiw has a favourable benefit to risk ratio compared with both 22 meg tiw and 30 meg once weekly, suggesting th at 44 meg tiw currently has the best benefit to risk ratio for the treatment o f relapsing MS.
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