NHS England introduces widespread “home” treatment with cladribine

England is the first country in Europe to launch a large-scale program for taking cladribine at home (20 tablets over 2 years) for active RRMS, resulting in fewer hospital visits and more convenient family planning. This is an example of how organizational decisions reinforce clinical benefits.

Thousands of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in England will be the first in Europe to benefit from the widespread introduction of immunotherapeutic tablets.

Current treatments involve regular trips to the hospital, drug administration, frequent injections, and careful monitoring, which increases the burden on patients and healthcare systems.

The new cladribine tablets can be taken at home and only need to be taken 20 times during the first two years of a four-year cycle. The treatment regimen involves a maximum of 10 days of treatment in the first year and 10 days in the second; no additional treatment is required in the following two years.

Patients planning to have children can also safely conceive during the third and fourth years of the treatment cycle. This is an important step, as MS is most commonly diagnosed in women between the ages of 20 and 30.

The National Health Service (NHS) in England became the first healthcare system in Europe to widely introduce this drug for patients with active relapsing-remitting MS after receiving approval from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Read more