VRAYLAR, an atypical antipsychotic medication, received its Notice of Compliance from Health Canada on April 22, 2022 . Following the positive recommendation from INESSS issued in October 2022 , VRAYLAR completed negotiations at pCPA and has an active letter of intent (LOI). Québec and the federal plans (NIHB, CSC and VAC) have subsequently listed VRAYLAR, for the treatment of schizophrenia, as a result of this completed negotiation and LOI. MONTREAL , Sept. 4, 2024 /CNW/ – AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) today announced that Canada’s Drug Agency (CDA, formerly CADTH) has recommended that VRAYLAR be reimbursed with conditions , for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults.
This recommendation supersedes the CADTH recommendation for this drug and indication dated August 26, 2022 .
“We applaud CDA for this positive reimbursement recommendation, along with the acknowledgement of the important unmet need for better management of negative symptoms of schizophrenia,” says Chris Summerville , CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada . “We are hopeful that this step towards equitable access to VRAYLAR will help meet this need for many Canadians.”
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that can impact a person’s ability to function, and often presents symptoms that can change over time. Symptoms can include hallucinations, disorganized speech, social withdrawal, and catatonic behaviour. An estimated 300,000 Canadians are impacted by schizophrenia.1 Only 15% of schizophrenia patients in Canada are employed2 , which means that they likely do not have access to private insurance and rely on public drug plans to access the medications they require to manage their symptoms.