Two trials, published in the Lancet medical journal, compared the effectiveness of alemtuzumab with a first-choice drug, interferon beta-1a.
Not only is interferon-beta an ineffective weapon against bacteria, it can block the action of interferon gamma - which is when bacteria can gain a foothold, the researchers said.
Whereas in patients with a more serious form of leprosy, a protein associated with a viral response - interferon-beta - was prominent.
Nice chairman Sir Michael Rawlins has stressed that no final decision has been taken on beta interferon.
Health authorities were asked about the provision of eight drugs approved by NICE, plus Beta interferon and Herceptin.
It implies that beta interferon might be used to treat nearly 60% of the entire multiple sclerosis population.
Users say beta interferon reduces the frequency and severity of the painful bouts.
Charities would say that this isn't the issue - beta interferon is the only drug treatment for MS and there are no alternatives.
The MS drug Beta interferon and the Herceptin, a breast cancer drug, are widely prescribed, despite the fact NICE has not yet issued guidelines.
There are 80, 000 people in the UK with multiple sclerosis - theoretically beta interferon could help about 10% of them, but the reality is that only about 2% actually receive it.
That is precisely why charities have called for long term monitoring of the benefits of beta interferon before slamming the door in the face of those newly diagnosed with the disease.
Neither we, as the manufacturers of one of the beta interferon products, nor any other manufacturer, nor any clinician or patient group has ever claimed anything like such a level of treatment.
Dr Lorna Layward, head of research at the society, said clinical trials had shown that some patients responded to current drugs in use such as beta interferon and copaxone, while others did not.
The authors, Dr Malcolm Kendrick and Dr Kian Johnson, from Macclesfield health economics analysts Interphase, say that previously the cost of beta interferon has been calculated on the assumption that its benefits do not last beyond the first two years.
In MS, beta-interferon, the most effective treatment produced so far, holds back the number of attacks but does not prevent eventual disease progression.
Beta-interferon has also been shown in studies to benefit to those with "relapsing-remitting" MS, in which the sufferer's condition is stable in between "attacks", which prove gradually more disabling.
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