PRESS RELEASE
July 13th, 2021 (Tampa, Florida) -
Angels for Change Featured in Jazz Pharmaceuticals’ Celebration of New Pediatric Cancer Drug
Angels for Change, a Tampa-based national non-profit committed to ending drug shortages, was featured today when Jazz Pharmaceuticals celebrated the release of their new drug, Rylaze, for pediatric oncology and leukemia patients. Rylaze is designed for patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) or Lymphoblastic Lymphoma (LBL) who have a severe allergic reaction to pegasparaginase. Without an alternative drug, patients would not follow full treatment protocol, thus reducing their chances for survival.
Bruce C. Cozadd, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jazz Pharmaceuticals said this is “a pivotal milestone for the hematology community” that “would not have been possible without the collaboration of those joining us today.” He said, “After listening to families and many other organizations at the center of this community, including the Children’s Oncology Group and Angels for Change, we embarked on an aggressive development path to bring a new recombinant erwinia asparaginase option to market, one that will be manufactured under the highest quality standards and provide a reliable supply to meet the needs of our patients.”
Maria Firvida, Head of Global Advocacy at Jazz, interviewed Angels for Change Founder and CEO Laura Bray. Bray was asked to speak to the experiences of the advocacy community, and the significance of FDA’s approval of Rylaze for families.
Bray explained Angels for Change’s purpose and mission, which is to end life-saving drug shortages and ensure access to life-saving drugs for all patients. Angels for Change was founded when Bray’s daughter, Abby, experienced a severe allergic reaction to pegasparaginase during her leukemia treatment. The family was told the substitute drug she needed to follow the protocol with a 90% survival rate was unavailable because it was on shortage.
Bray detailed how product shortages impact patients with ALL and LBL. Angels for Change just finished work with USP and Vizient that “showed that pediatric oncology essential medicines are 80% more likely to go into shortage and stay in shortage 50% longer than the average medicine. Because the protocols specifically for leukemia are so long, it’s very likely they will experience a shortage or, like my Abby, more than one shortage during their protocol.” In discussing drug protocols and survival, Bray continued, “We know that compliance and protocol timing is one of the biggest keys to success in increasing event-free survival [with] 90% survival rates. But those numbers depend on the drugs being at the right place at the right timing and no patient being delayed because of a shortage.”
When asked to explain why the approval of Rylaze is significant, Bray answered that the approval and release of Rylaze is “key to a more resilient marketplace for all leukemia patients who are sensitive to pegasparaginase.” She explained that having a second drug on the market will create more trust in the supply chain, greater chances of event-free survival, and a situation in which patients who have a reaction to pegasparaginase can be told “we have another option we can give you today.”
Bray said, “I am thankful to Jazz for the work that they have done” on a new drug “specifically targeted to pediatric oncology patients and leukemia patients.” She concluded, that, “as a parent of a child with cancer, we are eternally grateful.”
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Angels for Change is a volunteer-run organization on a mission to drive change, through advocacy and awareness, of the life-saving drug shortage crisis. We are passionate about building support and awareness to create solutions that will provide equal drug access to patients in need. Our focus is to advocate on behalf of any patient in a drug shortage and build relationships with patients and members of the pharmaceutical supply chain to end all healthcare crises created by drug shortages.
Press Contacts:
Laura Bray, Angels for Change Chief Changemaker: LauraBray@AngelsforChange.org
Diane Masiello, Angels for Change Communications Director: communications@AngelsforChange.org