Pill for treating MS patients is 'months away'

The first pill for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) could be available in the UK within a "few months", it emerged yesterday.

European experts have recommended that regulators give the green light to Gilenya, paving the way to an EU-wide licence.

Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Novartis, which manufactures the drug, said a licence allowing Gilenya to be marketed in the UK was expected "in the next few months".

The drug, already sold in the US and Russia, provides the first daily pill alternative to injected MS treatments.

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, made up of experts from the European Medicines Agency, recommended that the EU regulator approve the drug.

Scotland has one of the highest rates of MS in the world.