The Ministry of Health has given the green light to the approval and financing of a new therapeutic option for the most frequent forms of multiple sclerosis, which consists of an oral therapy that is administered only once a day, which offers more comfort and flexibility to patients. The drug (ponesimod) from the pharmaceutical company Janssen is aimed at adults with the most recurrent forms of sclerosis and is supported by trials carried out over nine years in which 1,133 patients aged between 18 and 55 from 28 countries participated , including Spain, Janssen has reported in a press release. According to the head of the Neurology Service at the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, Xavier Montalbán, the results of these studies have shown thatponesimod is significantly more effective than other treatments for multiple sclerosis, reducing the annual rate of outbreaks by more than 30% and reducing lesions by 55% New active lesions detected with magnetic resonance imaging.This specialist has also highlighted the superior effect of the new drug approved in Spain on the degree of brain atrophy, with a reduction in the combined single active lesions observed in brain magnetic resonance imaging.For the president of the Society Spanish Neurologist (SEN), José Miguel Laínez, this new therapy also makes it possible to treat sclerosis early with high efficacy and an excellent tolerance profile. In addition, according to this expert, its rapid reversibility stands out as it returns the counts of lymphocytes, defensive cells of the body, to normal levels in just seven days. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease of the central nervous system in which immune cells attack myelin (the protective covering that insulates nerve cells), damaging or destroying it and causing inflammation. Symptoms vary from person to person but the most common are fatigue, balance and gait problems, numbness and tingling, dizziness and vertigo, vision problems, and bladder and bowel disorders.