Oral drugs to treat multiple sclerosis could become available in 2011 after promising results in two trials.
Drug licences have been applied for and the MS Society said it was "great news" for people with MS - current treatments involve injections or infusions.
The trials of the drugs each involved 1,000 people in over 18 countries, the New England Journal of Medicine says.
Cladribine and fingolimod, which come as tablets, cut relapse rates by 50-60% over two years compared with placebos.
Fingolimod was also tested against the widely used injection, beta interferon 1a. The trial showed the new drug was twice as effective in reducing the number of relapses over a year.
Multiple sclerosis is the most common disabling neurological disorder affecting young adults. It affects more than 100,000 people in the UK and 2.5 million worldwide.
Symptoms include mobility problems, lack of bladder and bowel control and and blurred vision.
The downside of current treatments is that they have to be injected or given by infusion.
MS sufferers have long hoped a pill would be developed. Pharmaceutical companies have been competing to get there first.
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