B.C. ALS patients granted coverage for $120K drug

The B.C. Ministry of Health says this August it will extend drug coverage for ALS patients to cover a treatment that typically costs users $120,000 annually. 

Coverage of edaravone, or Radicava, will begin on Aug. 19, 2020.

Approved by Health Canada in Oct. 2018, edavarone is an intravenous drug that reportedly improves the condition of people in the early stages of ALS.

According to the ALS Society of Canada the drug has been used in Japan since 2001 as a treatment for stroke, and clinical trials for its use in the treatment of ALS have been taking place since 2006.

"The offer from Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation meets British Columbia's criteria, which is great news for patients suffering from this deadly disease," said Health Minister Adrian Dix. 

"B.C. will continue to support ALS patients through its expansion of coverage of life-changing drugs and research funding to improve the lives of British Columbians."

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that typically causes patients to lose the ability to move, speak, swallow and breathe as it progresses.

The government says this year it expects between 66 and 183 patients of an estimated 480 people in B.C. diagnosed with ALS will benefit from the coverage of edaravone.

ALS centre of excellence

The government has also pledged $1 million to match the same amount raised by the ALS Society of British Columbia for an ALS Centre of Excellence. 

The money will be used over the next five years to develop the Vancouver-based centre. 
 
"This organization has done extraordinary things to enable patients to participate in their care, prolong survival, and improve well-being, and we are happy to support them in that great work," said Dix. 

The centre plans to serve patients in the Vancouver area, and provincewide through mobile clinics.