Health Canada approve INQOVI®

GREAT NEWS.

Taiho Pharma Canada, Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Japan), has announced that Health Canada approved INQOVI® as the first and only orally administered hypomethylating agent for the treatment of MDS. INQOVI was developed by Astex Pharmaceuticals, a sister company of Taiho and will be available in Canada.

“INQOVI offers selected MDS patients an effective oral treatment alternative to the current standard 7 days of subcutaneous injections administered in a cancer centre every month,” says Dr. Rena Buckstein, Hematologist Oncologist at the Odette Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario. “Having an oral option is very important for patients who cannot travel and is particularly significant during the COVID-19 pandemic when we try to minimize hospital visits to protect patients and medical staff.”

“Canadian oncologists and patients were involved in the clinical development program for INQOVI with several clinical study sites,” said Dr. Mohammad Azab, President and Chief Medical Officer of Astex Pharmaceuticals. “We are thrilled that INQOVI is now available for healthcare professionals to prescribe to their patients across Canada living with MDS and CMML.”

“This announcement is good news for people living with MDS and CMML” says Cindy Anthony, AAMAC’s Executive Director. “We welcome new treatments that can be taken at home to reduce hospital visits, and which can also induce complete remission for patients.”

Reva McLelland, an MDS patient was interviewed by CTV Toronto (Pauline Chan) on Thursday October 8, 2020. Please click on the link below for the CTV news video network. As MDS World Awareness Day approaches, it is great to have MDS in the news.