Randomized, Controlled Trial to Test the Efficacy of Interferon Beta in the Treatment of Intermediate Uveitis

Inclusion Criteria: * Male and female patients age 18 and over * Active uni- or bilateral non-infectious intermediate uveitis of at least 1 year duration * Visual acuity on the worse eye at least 0.1 (20/200) and maximally 0.6 (20/30) caused by macular edema, defined by foveal thickness ≥ 250 µm * Either primary uveitis or diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis * Previous treatment with oral corticosteroids in a dose of 0.5 mg per kg bodyweight of prednisone equivalent without sufficient success * Previous treatment with other immunosuppressive drugs is facultative Exclusion Criteria: * Exclusively anterior uveitis * Absence of macular edema * Optic nerve atrophy after neuritis nervi optici * Peri-or intraocular injection of corticosteroids in the previous 3 months * Allergies against any interferon * Depression diagnosed by a psychiatrist * Hepatic disease * Infectious Uveitis * Other auto-immune diseases but MS * Pregnancy, Lactation * Lack of reliable contraception * Patients with metabolic, psychiatric or neoplastic diseases * Active diseases like asthma, psoriasis or inflammatory bowel disease who have to be treated with corticosteroids * primary or secondary immune deficiency * Tuberculosis or other infectious lung diseases * Hepatitis B or C * Life vaccination during the trial duration