Skip to main content
SecuritySaudi defense minister says he discussed Houthi attacks in call…Hanukkahin 32 days · December 5, 2026Hebrew date23 Cheshvan 5787USD/ILS₪3.139Kinneret-213.71 m
Election 2026

The results of the 27 October vote

Prof. Ruth Arnon of the Weizmann Institute, a co-developer of Copaxone, at her desk

1996Medicine

The US approves Copaxone, a multiple sclerosis drug born at the Weizmann Institute.

On 20 December 1996 the FDA approves the injection for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, after Teva developed it into a drug.

The story in numbers.

Here is how it happened.

  • 1967

    Researchers at the Weizmann Institute set out to cause an MS-like disease.

    They try amino acid copolymers built to resemble a protein in nerve insulation. None causes the disease, and one called copolymer 1 suppresses it.

    SourceIsrael Medical Association Journal

  • 1971

    A first paper reports that copolymer 1 suppresses the disease in animals.

    It appears in the European Journal of Immunology. Later experiments in rabbits, mice and primates find suppression of 60% to 100%.

    SourceIsrael Medical Association Journal

  • 1977

    A first report on patients comes from Hadassah.

    In a preliminary report, Professor Oded Abramsky gives 2 mg a day for 5 months to four patients in terminal stages of MS. All four stay stable and show no side effects.

    SourceIsrael Medical Association Journal

  • 1987

    A New York trial reports far fewer relapses.

    In a double-blind trial of 48 patients lasting 24 months, relapses per patient fall from 2.7 to 0.6 in two years on copolymer 1. The trial runs at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and is published in 1987.

    SourceIsrael Medical Association Journal

  • 20 December 1996

    The FDA approves Copaxone for relapsing-remitting MS.

    The approval rests on a trial of 251 patients at 11 US medical centres, which found a 29% lower relapse rate than placebo over 24 months. The drug is marketed worldwide from 1997.

    SourceUS FDA

1 of 5

More pictures from this story.

  • The entrance of a stone building with the words Michael Sela Auditorium in English and Hebrew letters across its front

    The Michael Sela Auditorium at the Weizmann Institute, named for a co-discoverer of the drug

Here is why it matters.

The work began as an experiment meant to cause an MS-like disease in animals, and the substance suppressed the disease instead. The drug has been sold worldwide since 1997.

Three more milestones to read next.

  • 2006

    Technion-developed Azilect, a Parkinson's drug, wins US approval.

    Read the story

  • 2012

    Elelyso, a Gaucher disease treatment from Israel's Protalix, wins US approval.

    Read the story

  • The WEIZAC computer behind glass, with its plaque

    1954

    WEIZAC, Israel's first computer, starts running.

    Read the story

Where each fact was read.

Sources read on 1 November 2026.