All provinces are listing RADICAVA Oral Suspension (edaravone)

The province of Manitoba has listed RADICAVA Oral Suspension on the Manitoba Pharmacare Program (Exceptional Drug Status) as a treatment for ALS. With this announcement, all provinces and territories across Canada – as well as Veterans Affairs Canada and Indigenous Services Canada – are now covering RADICAVA Oral Suspension through their public formularies. More than 700 Canadians helped make this possible by writing their provincial Health Ministers urging the province to make a quick decision in favour of covering the drug, and we are pleased that affordable access to RADICAVA Oral Suspension is now available to all eligible Canadians regardless of where they live. For more information, you can read Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Canada, Inc. (MTP-CA)’s press release.   

While compared to the ALS community’s experience with Radicava (edaravone)’s approval and reimbursement process in 2021, we are seeing improvements to the timelines associated with access. However, time is of the essence for the ALS community. The timeframe between approval of the therapy and for all provinces to make a reimbursement decision does not reflect the realities of living with ALS. RADICAVA Oral Suspension was approved by Health Canada in November 2022. It took over one year from Health Canada approval for all provinces, territories, and federal programs to cover the therapy. Every day counts for Canadian families living with the disease, which is why we want to see a streamlined process where ALS therapies get to Canadians in a timeframe that more accurately reflects the urgency faced by the community.   

ALS Canada will continue actively working with federal and provincial decision-makers to ensure Canadians living with ALS have equitable, timely, and affordable access to Health Canada approved therapies.