Edaravone (Radicava) approved to treat MND in USA

May 2017

What does this mean for people with MND in the UK?

On Friday 5 May in America, the FDA, the organisation that approves drugs, announced that they had granted a licence for the drug known as a edaravone (to be marketed as Radicava) for the treatment of motor neuron disease (MND). It's unexpected news and we're currently working out what this means for people with MND in the UK.

Edaravone works as an anti-oxidant which helps remove damaging agents from the body and this prevents or delays cell damage. In clinical trials, edaravone has been shown to slow the progression of MND potentially helping people preserve function longer.

We are in contact with Mitsibushi-Tanabe in the USA and have asked them to connect us with their European office in order to understand their plans for licensing in Europe.

More information on edaravone is available on the ALS Association website. More information on clinical trials in general is available on our website.

Find out more about clinical research

As we learn more about the developments of the drug we will keep everyone updated.