Life-Saving Pediatric Drug Becomes Readily Available to Those
in Need
by: ARA Content
We can all sympathize with the frustration people experience
waiting for a new drug that is being tested for a certain disorder.
Imagine you have a child with a rare disorder and the only drug
effective for treating the disorder is not only extremely hard
to obtain, but available only through a nationally-administered
random selection process. For many American families, this dilemma
is a harsh reality.
Patients suffering from a host of difficult to treat orphan disorders
have found marked relief from using HP Acthar Gel.
Some disorders Acthar helps include seizure complex in babies
and young children, referred to as West's syndrome or infantile
spasm; Still's disease and ulcerative colitis; Bell's palsy; multiple
sclerosis; adrenocortical insufficiency and non-endocrine disorders
that are responsive to glucocorticoids.
For the past four years, however, the drug has only been available
through a limited access program administered by the National
Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), a federation of more that
135 non-profit health organizations serving people with rare disorders.
U.S. physicians who were interested in obtaining Acthar Gel for
their patients with life-threatening or severely debilitating
conditions who did not respond to any other treatment were given
first access to the drug. Others with "non-life-threatening"
cases had to enroll in a computerized random selection process
administered by NORD.
An estimated 1,600 patients, primarily suffering from West's
syndrome and multiple sclerosis who experience episodes of "flare,"
have been allowed access to HP Acthar Gel each year for
the past four years under the limited access program. More than
5,000 additional patients whose physicians requested the drug
were denied.
The origins of this drug shortage crisis date back to 1996 when
Aventis Pharmaceuticals stopped making Acthar for a few months
because of manufacturing difficulties.
But now, Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: QSC) has signed
an agreement with Aventis to acquire the worldwide rights to HP
Acthar Gel. Questcor has also reached a manufacturing agreement
with Aventis and will gradually move production to an independent
manufacturing facility.
As a result, HP Acthar Gel is now back in full production and
is returning to normal levels of distribution. Questcor began
shipments of HP Acthar Gel to wholesalers the last week of September
2001, giving patients in need access to the product.
"We are delighted that Questcor is making this critically
important product more widely available after this long period
of restricted distribution," said Abbey S. Meyers, president
of NORD. "We have been working closely with the company over
the last several months to ensure that anyone with a need for
Acthar Gel is now able to readily receive the product through
more traditional channels. Too many people have suffered as a
result of limited access to Acthar Gel."
Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a fully integrated specialty
pharmaceutical company that serves the needs of acute and critical
care hospitals with its proprietary products. Visit www.questcor.com
for more information on the company and its products.
If you are a patient with a disorder that can be treated with
Acthar, ask your doctor to contact Questcor Pharmaceuticals at
(510) 400-0700. For more information about Acthar, including distribution
information, please visit www.Acthar.com.
About The Author - Courtesy ARA Content,
www.ARAcontent.com; e-mail: info@ARAcontent.com
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