Investigational tolebrutinib slowed disability progression in people with non-relapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), the phase III HERCULES trial showed. The Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor met the study's primary endpoint of delaying time to onset of 6-month confirmed disability progression (CDP),

Sanofi said on Friday that its multiple sclerosis drug candidate was shown to delay worsening of a progressive form of the disease by 31%, as the French drugmaker eyes a request for approval later this year.

Data from the HERCULES trial presented at the ECTRIMS conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, today showed that tolebrutinib was able to delay the time to six-month disability progression by 31% compared to placebo in patients with non-relapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (nrSPMS).

The positive readout in patients with non-relapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis comes on the heels of back-to-back failures in which tolebrutinib was unable to improve relapse rates in patients with relapsing MS.

Tolebrutinib delayed the onset of disability progression by 31% for patients with a type of the disease called non-relapsing secondary progressive MS, according to data from a late stage trial presented Friday, Sept. 20, at a research congress in Copenhagen. The results confirm topline findings published on Sept. 2.

Sanofi’s experimental drug for a form of multiple sclerosis delayed the progression of disability by nearly a third, providing hope for patients for whom there’s currently no treatment.

After missing primary endpoints in relapsing forms of MS, tolebrutinib has proved its efficacy in secondary progressive MS patients.