By Dr. James W. Stark

As many of you know, Teva Pharmaceuticals has launched a new formulation of their MS medication, Copaxone. This Copaxone is a higher dose of the medicine and is taken three times a week instead of daily. The actual amount of liquid has not changed, however, so there are no differences in the method of injection between the old and new formulations. Clinical trials have been completed and show equal efficacy between the two formulations. The incidence of injection site reactions was reduced in the three times a week group, likely just because of the fewer number of injections required.  Although we are still gaining experience with this drug, there is currently no reason to believe that there are any differences other than the frequency of injections. Patients who are interested in converting to the new formulation should bring it up at their next office visit. However, if your visit is not coming up in the next few weeks, please call the phone nurse for further information.