An Extension Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Fingolimod (FTY720) in Patients With Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

• Percentage of Patients Free of Gd-enhanced T1 Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Lesions [ Time Frame: Months 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, and 48 ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  To ensure consistency, MRI scans were evaluated centrally at the Institute of Neurotherapeutics in Kyoto, Japan. After checking the scans for completeness and quality, all scans were analyzed by blinded readers (experienced neurologists). The number of Gd-enhanced T1 weighted MRI lesions were counted and recorded. Lesions expanding through several slices were counted as only 1 lesion.
  
  

• Percentage of Patients Free of New or Newly Enlarged T2 Weighted MRI Lesions [ Time Frame: Months 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, 12-18, 18-24, 24-36,36-48, and 48 to the end of the study (up to 4 years) ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  To ensure consistency, MRI scans were evaluated centrally at the Institute of Neurotherapeutics in Kyoto, Japan. After checking the scans for completeness and quality, all scans were analyzed by blinded readers (experienced neurologists). The number of new or newly enlarged T2 weighted MRI lesions were counted and recorded. New lesions were identified by comparing each lesion with previous scans. Lesions expanding through several slices were counted as only 1 lesion.
  
  
• Aggregate Annualized Relapse Rate (ARR) Based on Confirmed Relapses [ Time Frame: Months 0-6, 6-12, 12-24, 24-36, 36-48, and 48 to the end of the study (up to 4 years) ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  The ARR was defined as the total number of relapses for all patients in the treatment arm / total number of days in the study for all patients in the treatment arm for the specific period of time × 365.25. General definition of relapse: Appearance of a new neurological abnormality or worsening of previously stable or improving pre-existing neurological abnormality, separated by at least 30 days from the onset of a preceding clinical demyelinating event. The abnormality must be present for at least 24 hours and occur in the absence of fever (< 37.5°C) or infection. A relapse was to be confirmed by a neurologist trained on the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). A relapse must be accompanied by an increase of at least half a step (0.5) on the EDSS or an increase of 1 point on 2 different Functional Systems (FS) of the EDSS or 2 points on 1 of the FS (excluding Bowel/Bladder or Cerebral FS).
  
  
• Percentage of Patients Relapse-free at the End of the Study [ Time Frame: Baseline to the end of the study (up to 4 years) ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Patients who did not experience any relapses confirmed by a neurologist during the study were regarded as relapse-free patients.
  
  
• Percentage of Patients Free From 3-month and 6-month Confirmed Disability Progression at Their Last Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) Assessment [ Time Frame: Baseline to the end of the study (up to 4 years) ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Disability progression was measured by the EDSS score. A trained neurologist grades the multiple sclerosis (MS) disability of the patient on a scale of 0-5 (no to severe disability) in 8 Functional Systems (FS): Pyramidal, cerebellar, brainstem, sensory, bowel and bladder, visual, cerebral (or mental), and other. The EDSS score ranges from 0-10 (normal to dead) with higher scores indicating greater disability. A 3-month confirmed disability progression was defined as a 3-month sustained increase from baseline in the EDSS score, that is, every EDSS score obtained (scheduled or unscheduled) within 3-months after the first progression met the following progression criteria: One point (1) increase from baseline in patients with baseline EDSS score from 0 to 5.0; or half a point (0.5) increase in patients with baseline EDSS score of 5.5 or above. A 6-month confirmed disability progression was defined exactly the same except that the sustained progression had to last 6 months.
  
  
• Change From Core Study Baseline in the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) Score [ Time Frame: Baseline to Months 12, 24, 36, 48, and end of study (up to 4 years) ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Disability progression was measured by the EDSS score. A trained neurologist grades the multiple sclerosis (MS) disability of the patient on a scale of 0-5 (no to severe disability) in 8 Functional Systems (FS): Pyramidal, cerebellar, brainstem, sensory, bowel and bladder, visual, cerebral (or mental), and other. The EDSS score ranges from 0-10 (normal to dead) with higher scores indicating greater disability. A 3-month confirmed disability progression was defined as a 3-month sustained increase from baseline in the EDSS score, that is, every EDSS score obtained (scheduled or unscheduled) within 3-months after the first progression met the following progression criteria: One point (1) increase from baseline in patients with baseline EDSS score from 0 to 5.0; or half a point (0.5) increase in patients with baseline EDSS score of 5.5 or above. A 6-month confirmed disability progression was defined exactly the same except that the sustained progression had to last 6 months.
  
  

A decision was made to switch all patients on fingolimod 1.25 mg/day to fingolimod 0.5 mg/day in an amendment to the study protocol. The study became open-label with all patients receiving fingolimod 0.5 mg/day on 22 Feb 2010.

The efficacy data for Months 0-6 in this study report is from the core study NCT00537082.