The FDA has approved its first-ever disease-modifying drug for children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS). The drug, Gilyena® (fingolimod), has been shown to significantly reduce relapses and brain lesions.

"Repeated relapses are more common in young people with MS than in adults,” said Dr. Brenda Banwell, chief of the Division of Neurology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), who served as co-principal investigator of the pivotal study that supported the pediatric approval. “This is heartening news for patients and their families,” she added.