MSActiveSource

Betaferon

Betaferon (interferon beta-1b)
Betaferon contains the active ingredient interferon beta-1b. Interferons are natural proteins made in your body which help protect you from infections and diseases. Extavia is an alternative brand name for the same drug.

Betaferon is used to treat people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who have had at least two relapses (attacks) in the past 2 years. It is also used to treat some people with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) with active disease who are still having relapses. Betaferon helps to reduce the number and severity of the relapses that you have and slows the course of the condition.

Betaferon can also be used in patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS). CIS is an individual's first episode of neurological symptoms lasting at least 24 hours and can be an indicator of what may turn out to be MS. For more information about the course of MS go to Types of MS.

How Betaferon works
In MS, your body’s defence (immune) system attacks its own myelin – the ‘insulation’ that surrounds nerve fibres. When myelin is damaged, the messages between the brain and other parts of the body are disrupted. This is what causes the symptoms of MS. Betaferon is thought to work by stopping your body’s immune system from attacking the myelin.

How is Betaferon taken?
Betaferon is injected under the skin (subcutaneously) once every two days. Each dose of 250 micrograms of Betaferon is contained in a 1 ml injection (about one fifth of a teaspoon in volume).

You can inject Betaferon yourself at home, without the help of a healthcare professional.

More detailed prescribing information on Betaferon can be found by going to www.medicines.ie. Typing Betaferon in the search box and pressing Go will bring you to a patient information leaflet on Betaferon.

Licensed for the treatment of MS in 1995, Betaferon is marketed by Bayer Schering Pharma AG.