§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the comparative(a) clinical effectiveness and (b) cost effectiveness of azathioprine and betainterferon in treating (i) relapsing remitting MS and (ii) secondary progressive MS. [70644]
§ Mr. DenhamAs part of a research proposal a group of experts has made indirect comparisons between the available evidence on clinical effectiveness of beta-interferon and azathioprine in reducing relapse rates in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. They conclude from their analysis that there is no difference in efficacy in these indirect comparisons. Indirect comparisons of evidence from trials using different patient groups and protocols are less reliable than direct comparisons. The safety profiles of the respective drugs must also be considered.
No such analysis is available for the treatment of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.
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