The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Johnson & Johnson's multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment, Ponvory, the company's unit Janssen Pharmaceutical Co said on Friday.

The FDA approved Ponvory as a daily oral drug to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, a debilitating neurological condition in which the immune system eats away at the protective covering of nerves.

The approval was based on data from a two-year late-stage study where Ponvory demonstrated superior efficacy in significantly reducing annual relapses by about 30% compared to Sanofi's approved MS drug Aubagio, the company said.