The ALS Association, the only national nonprofit fighting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) on every front, applauded the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) announcement today that it has approved Radicava (edaravone), the first new treatment approved specifically for ALS in 22 years. The FDA approved Radicava less than a year after Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation submitted a New Drug Application. There are only two other approved treatments specifically for ALS, Riluzole and Tiglutik.
Edaravone is believed to act as a free radical scavenger, a compound that works by getting rid of toxic waste generated as a normal by-product the cells function. In ALS it is thought that these by-products are not as effectively removed and the compound may be neuroprotective by relieving the effects of this oxidative stress. The increase in oxidative stress is thought to damage motor neurons (cells that die in ALS).