Fampridine approved on NHS England for MS patients
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- Fampridine is now available on the NHS in England as the first drug to help MS patients walk, with up to 5,000 people per year eligible based on the extent of their walking difficulties.
- Clinical trials showed roughly 4 in 10 patients on fampridine saw improvements in walking speed and duration; the drug works as a "signal booster" helping electrical messages from the brain reach muscles despite myelin damage.
- NHS England previously rejected fampridine as not value for money, even though the drug was already available in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
- Aysen Slack, a 65-year-old MS patient from Eastbourne, paid privately for the pills until the cost became unsustainable and called the NHS decision to fund them "great news".
- NHS patients will trial fampridine for up to a month, and only those showing "clear benefit" will be able to continue receiving it under the funded programme.
- Prof Frankie Swords, NHS national medical director, said even a modest improvement could mean greater independence, while the MS Society's Ceri Smith called the drug potentially "life-changing" for many patients.
Why it matters: For roughly 5,000 of the 120,000-plus MS patients in England with walking difficulties, NHS-funded fampridine ends a postcode-lottery gap that left English patients paying out of pocket while Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland already covered it. The one-month trial with a "clear benefit" cutoff means the NHS only commits to ongoing costs for patients who demonstrably respond.
