Drug that helps MS patients walk faster approved in US

(Olivier Le Queinec)

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a drug which has been found to allow with multiple sclerosis (MS) to walk faster, the drug watchdog said.

Multiple sclerosis patients treated with the drug, Ampyra - generic name dalfampridine - were found in clinical trials to have faster walking speeds than those treated with a placebo, the FDA said.

"Trouble with walking is one of the most debilitating problems people with MS face," Russell Katz, director of the Division of Neurology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement Saturday.

Ampyra is the first drug approved by the FDA to help improve MS patients' walking.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, often disabling disease that affects the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.

Around 2.5 million people worldwide, including 400,000 in the United States, have MS, according to Multiple Sclerosis Society.

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