Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America Announces Launch Of The JourneyMate Program, Offering Live Nurse Educational Phone Support For ALS Patients And Caregivers

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Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc.

May 20, 2020, 09:00 ET

JERSEY CITY, N.J., May 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc. (MTPA) today announced the launch of RADICAVA^® (edaravone) JourneyMate™, a new program connecting people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and their families to live nurse educational support, which can help answer questions about the disease and treatment options.

"We interact with the ALS community regularly to understand their needs and how we can help, and in doing so we learned many people who are recently diagnosed desire to speak to someone knowledgeable and sensitive to their situation," said Joseph Scalia, Vice President of Commercial Sales and Marketing, MTPA. "We are excited to be able to provide this program to the entire community, adding to their arsenal of resources."

The JourneyMate program does not give medical advice. Instead, the program will provide information to people with ALS and caregivers who want to learn more as they talk with their healthcare providers (HCP) when considering treatment options. Specifically, JourneyMate representatives can answer questions about ALS disease progression, support callers in preparing to talk with their HCPs about treatment, explain the RADICAVA infusion process and provide support resources for caregivers.

A JourneyMate can be reached by calling 1-855-4-JRNY-M8, or 1-855-457-6968, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET Monday – Friday. Off-hours callers are encouraged to leave a message, and a JourneyMate representative will return the call the following day. To learn more about the program, visit Radicava.com/JourneyMate.

An estimated 5,000-6,000 Americans are diagnosed each year with ALS, a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.^1,2,3 The majority of ALS patients die within two to five years of receiving a diagnosis, but progression of the disease can vary significantly.⁴

About Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc.
Based in Jersey City, N.J., Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc. (MTPA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation's (MTPC) 100 percent owned U.S. holding company, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Holdings America, Inc. MTPA is dedicated to delivering innovative products that address the unmet medical needs of patients in North America. It was established by MTPC to commercialize approved pharmaceutical products in North America with plans to expand its product line through collaborations with partners. For more information, please visit www.mt-pharma-america.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Overview of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (MTPC)
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, which was founded in 1678, has its headquarters in Doshomachi, Osaka, which is the birthplace of Japan's pharmaceutical industry. With business centered on ethical pharmaceuticals, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma is a well-established company and has the longest history of any listed company in Japan. In accordance with the corporate philosophy of "contributing to the healthier lives of people around the world through the creation of pharmaceuticals," the Company formulated the key concept of Open Up the Future under the Medium-Term Management Plan 2016-2020. Through the discovery of drugs that address unmet medical needs, centered on its priority disease areas — autoimmune diseases, diabetes and kidney diseases, central nervous system diseases, and vaccines — Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma will strive to contribute to the health of patients around the world. MTPC is the parent company of MTPA and the license holder of RADICAVA. For more information, go to http://www.mt-pharma.co.jp/.

About RADICAVA^® (edaravone)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved RADICAVA^® (edaravone) on May 5, 2017, as a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).⁵ In a pivotal trial, people given RADICAVA experienced a 33 percent slower rate of decline in the loss of physical function, compared to placebo as measured by the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R), a validated rating instrument for monitoring the progression of disability in people with ALS.^6,7 Edaravone was discovered and developed for ALS by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (MTPC) and commercialized in the U.S. by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc. MTPC group companies began researching ALS in 2001 through an iterative clinical platform over a 13-year period. In 2015, edaravone was approved for use as a treatment for ALS in Japan and South Korea. Marketing authorization was granted in Canada in October 2018 and Switzerland in January 2019.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Before you receive RADICAVA, tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you:

have asthma.
are allergic to other medicines.
are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if RADICAVA will harm your unborn baby.
are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if RADICAVA passes into your breast milk. You and your healthcare provider should decide if you will receive RADICAVA or breastfeed.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

What are the possible side effects of RADICAVA?

RADICAVA may cause serious side effects including hypersensitivity (allergic) reactions and sulfite allergic reactions.
Hypersensitivity reactions have happened in people receiving RADICAVA and can happen after your infusion is finished.
RADICAVA contains sodium bisulfite, a sulfite that may cause a type of allergic reaction that can be serious and life-threatening. Sodium bisulfite can also cause less severe asthma episodes in certain people. Sulfite sensitivity can happen more often in people who have asthma than in people who do not have asthma.
Tell your healthcare provider right away or go to the nearest emergency room if you have any of the following symptoms: hives; swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; fainting; breathing problems; wheezing; trouble swallowing; dizziness; itching; or an asthma attack (in people with asthma).
Your healthcare provider will monitor you during treatment to watch for signs and symptoms of all the serious side effects.

The most common side effects of RADICAVA include bruising (contusion), problems walking (gait disturbance), and headache.

These are not all the possible side effects of RADICAVA. Call your healthcare provider for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc. at 1-888-292-0058 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch.

For more information, including full Prescribing Information and Patient Information, please visit www.RADICAVA.com.

Media inquiries:
Debbie Etchison
908-340-8578
[email protected]

¹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – National Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Registry (April 25, 2017).
²Frequently Asked Questions – Questions About ALS. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/als/ALSFAQ.html.
³ Marin B, Boumediene F, Logroscino G, et al. (2016). Variation in worldwide incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a meta-analysis. Int J Epidemiol, 00:1-18.
⁴National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Information Page. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/all-disorders/amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis-als-information-page. Accessed May 2020.
⁵ Research by TOKYO SHOKO RESEARCH, LTD.
⁶ RADICAVA^® U.S. Prescribing Information. August 2018.
⁷ Simon, N. G., Turner, M. R., Vucic, S., Al-Chalabi, A., Shefner, J., Lomen-Hoerth, C., & Kiernan, M. C. (2014). Quantifying Disease Progression in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Annals of Neurology, 76(5), 643–657.http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ana.24273