The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted a new drug application for Cladribine tablets as a treatment for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis.

Manufacturer Merck KgaA said that the FDA also granted the therapy priority review designation, which means the review period for the application is reduced from the standard ten months to six.

Priority review is applied to drugs that can provide significant advances in treatment.

The application is supported by results from a two-year Phase III trial of Cladribine tablets in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, with a relapse rate over 96 weeks as the primary endpoint.