Posted by Michael Wonder on 03 Oct 2018
Biogen Canada and pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance reach agreement on access to first and only approved treatment for spinal muscular atrophy in Canada
3 October 2018 - Biogen has resubmitted for a recommendation for broader access with updated clinical trial data.
Biogen Canada and the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA) have reached an agreement to provide SMA Type 1 patients with access to Biogen's product, Spinraza (nusinersen).
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic disease characterised by loss of motor neurons which causes progressive muscle weakness and wasting, leading to severe handicap and death in some severely affected patients. While SMA is rare and affects roughly only one in ten thousand people, its symptoms can be devastating, with some patients not living past their second birthday, and others dependent on respiratory and feeding equipment and confined to a wheelchair for life.
Nusinersen is the first and only approved treatment for SMA. Through an extensive clinical development program, nusinersen has shown significant improvements in survival rates and motor function across a broad range of types and ages of SMA patients. Under the terms of the agreement, participating drug plans from the pCPA will fund treatment in SMA Type 1 patients who meet clinical criteria, as recommended by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) and l'Institut national d'excellence en sante et en services sociaux (INESSS).
