Acorda MS drug fails goal of post-marketing study

(Reuters) – Acorda Therapeutics Inc said on Monday that a low-dose version of its multiple sclerosis drug Ampyra did not work in a clinical study, a potentially positive result that will hold generic competition at bay until 2027. A post-marketing study of Ampyra failed to show an improvement in patients’ walking speed when 5 mg of the drug was given twice a day. Had the 5 mg version worked, generic rivals could have entered the market in 2017 or 2018. A 10 mg version of the drug was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2010, and that dose has patent protection until 2027. …