Sanofi said on Friday a trial of its multiple-sclerosis treatment teriflunomide found that a daily dose of the drug reduced the rate of relapse by 36 per cent compared with a placebo.

Teriflunomide, marketed as Aubagio, is one of the two multiple sclerosis drugs Sanofi has in late-stage development as it seeks to catch up with a fast-selling oral treatment from Novartis.

The study assessed the efficiency and safety of the drug in 1,169 patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis.

Teriflunomide is one of a series of pioneering drugs that the French drugmaker acquired as part of its takeover of U.S. biotech firm Genzyme last year.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency are both reviewing marketing applications for the use of Teriflunomide as a relapsing MS treatment.

MS, which has no cure, affects 2.5 million people worldwide. It is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system and can lead to numbness, paralysis and loss of vision. – Reuters