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ORLANDO, Fla. — Patients with certain rare, chronic and complex conditions can now obtain the medications that may improve or save their lives from AllianceRx Walgreens Prime, a leading central specialty and home delivery pharmacy.
Joel Wright
The hard-to-find drugs, called limited distribution drugs, treat such rare conditions as metastatic breast cancer, chronic liver disease, metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, and hereditary angioedema, to name a few.
The drugs now available for AllianceRx Walgreens Prime patients include:
- Doptelet (avatrombopag) is used to treat thrombocytopenia (low blood platelet count) in adults with chronic liver disease who are scheduled to undergo a medical or dental procedure. Manufactured by Dova Pharmaceuticals, this is the first in its class approved by the Food and Drug Administration for this use.
- Galafold (Migalastat) is the first oral medicine for Fabry disease, a rare, progressive genetic disorder characterized by a defective gene that causes an enzyme deficiency and impacts the kidneys. Manufactured by Amicus Therapeutics, Galafold is the first new therapy approved to treat adult patients with Fabry disease and an amenable galatosidase alpha gene (GLA) variant in the United States in more than 15 years.
- Revcovi (elapegademase-lvlr), manufactured by Leadiant Biosciences, Inc., treats adenosine deaminase severe combined immune deficiency (ADA-SCID) affecting children and adults. ADA-SCID is caused by a deficiency in the ADA enzyme that is fatal if left untreated. Patients affected by ADA-SCID have compromised immune systems that leave them unprotected from infection-producing bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
- Ruconest (C1 esterase inhibitor [recombinant]), distributed by Pharming Healthcare Inc., is an intravenously infused medicine used to treat acute angioedema (rapid swelling beneath the skin) attacks in adults and adolescents with hereditary angioedema (HAE). HAE, which can be life threatening, is caused by the lack of or dysfunction of a protein called C1 esterase inhibitor, which leads to repeated attacks of swelling in the extremities, abdominal, face, genitals, and/or larynx.
- Talzenna (talazoparib), manufactured by Pfizer, is used to treat patients who have a certain type of breast cancer (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 [HER2]-negative), an abnormal inherited BRCA gene, and whose cancer has spread to other parts of the body (locally advanced or metastatic).
- Vizimpro (dacomitnib) treats non-small cell lung cancer that has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic). Also manufactured by Pfizer, Vizimpro is used as a first-line treatment if tumors have certain types of abnormal epidermal growth factor receptor genes.
- Zavesca (miglustat) is used alone to treat adults with mild-to-moderate type 1 Gaucher disease, a genetic condition in which the body lacks the enzyme needed to break down certain fatty materials (lipids). Zavesca is used only in people who cannot be treated with enzyme replacement therapy.
“In our ongoing support of patients with chronic, complex conditions and rare diseases, these additions make it easier for patients to get the medications they need,” said Joel Wright, chief executive officer for AllianceRx Walgreens Prime. “While the FDA’s approval of these medications supports our purpose of providing hope and care for better tomorrows, access to medication is just part of our treatment approach. Our pharmacists use an integrated care management program to deliver comprehensive and collaborative care for patients throughout their care journey.”
