Tests on two drugs show they are effective and could free some patients from injections or intravenous medication that has to be administered in hospital.
The once-a-day pill fingolimod is made by pharmaceutical giant Novartis.
New hope: MS sufferers could take one pill a day to treat the condition instead of injections and intravenous medication
Cladribine, from German-based company Merck, lasts longer, with 20 to 40 tablets taken over the course of a year.
The MS Society said the development was 'great news' and it would campaign for patients to get the pills on the NHS.
Spokesman Doug Brown said: 'This signifies a shifting tide in the treatment of MS.
'The availability of oral therapies will give people greater choice, and being able to take a tablet instead of unpleasant injections will come as a welcome relief.'
Findings from clinical studies of both drugs were published in the New England Journal of Medicine yesterday.
MS is the most common disabling neurological condition, affecting almost 100,000 Britons.
Fifty young people are diagnosed each week. It involves damage to myelin, a protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres of the central nervous system, which means the body's immune system attacks itself.
Symptoms range from mild illness involving numbness, muscle weakness and visual disability to rapid and severe deterioration.
Trial results show that each of the drugs appear to be similarly effective at reducing relapse rates for patients with the most common form of MS, and in holding back progression of the disease.
The drugs, which have not yet been costed, are going through the licensing process and should be available by the end of 2011. ( dailymail.co.uk )
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