FDA Approval Urged for Multiple Sclerosis Drug

The first drug designed to combat the fundamental crippling action of multiple sclerosis was endorsed Friday by an advisory committee of the Food and Drug Administration.

Members of the committee said that enough evidence had been presented for the drug, beta interferon, to be marketed as a new treatment for the disease.

Beta interferon is the first pharmaceutical designed to stop the destructive processes that cause the crippling effects of multiple sclerosis. Other drugs used to treat the disease relieve symptoms only.