Genzyme, a sanofi company, announced today that the Yukon Pharmaceutical Programs have included Aubagio (teriflunomide) 14 mg on the territorial drug formulary as a first-line oral agent for people in the Yukon living with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). 

Aubagio is used as monotherapy for the treatment of RRMS to reduce the frequency of clinical exacerbations and to delay the accumulation of physical disability.

Alan Macklon, a resident of Whitehorse, was diagnosed with MS in 2007. He is pleased with the government decision to fund treatment options as they become available: "It is important that people can get access to a full range of treatments. It is really welcome. Some of us might get benefit from treatments taken orally. It is one thing to talk with our doctors about how to manage our disease; it is another thing to be able to get the treatment option your doctor might suggest."   

"It is important that people in Yukon who are living with MS are able to access the full range of treatment options in consultation with their healthcare team," says Tania Vrionis, President of the MS Society, BC & Yukon Division. "The availability of therapies that can be administered orally – especially as 'first-line options' – is a welcome development. The MS Society is pleased that the territorial government continues to provide coverage of MS treatments in a timely manner."

For more details, go to: http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1465773/the-yukon-to-fund-treatment-with-aubagiotm-for-relapsing-remitting-multiple-sclerosis