In September 2023, MND Australia shared a submission prepared for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) consultation on Edaravone. This initial submission period closed in October 2023.  

Edaravone is the active ingredient in a treatment that is sold under the product name RADICAVA®. This medication is available to people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who reside in Japan, South Korea, USA, Canada, Switzerland, China, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. On the 15th of February 2023, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in Australia approved RADICAVA® for the treatment of ALS in Australia.

Teva Pharma Australia, who have been licensed to market the product for use in Australia, applied to the PBAC to have RADICAVA® listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) for eligible people with ALS in Australia. They have stated RADICAVA® will be available in Australia only after it is listed on the PBS. The initial application to the PBAC was unsuccessful, however TEVA have been invited to resubmit their application for consideration in March 2024. 

As with the initial application, the PBAC again welcomes input from patients, carers, health professionals, consumer groups or organisations and members of the public on medicines submitted for PBAC consideration, including RADICAVA®.

Public consultation is now open until 31 January, 2024.

The consultation is an online survey process and the consultation portal can be found online here. We encourage you to get involved in this process if you have Lived Experience of MND.

An updated MND Australia submission to the PBAC is now available as part of this consultation process.