Patient support for Bafiertam now offered by Cycle Pharmaceuticals
Daily oral therapy approved in US for relapsing forms of MS
The patient support program Cycle Vita, which assists patients throughout the process of medical prescriptions, is now available for people taking the multiple sclerosis (MS) medication Bafiertam (monomethyl fumarate).
That’s according to Cycle Pharmaceuticals, in an announcement a few months after the company acquired Banner Life Sciences, which developed Bafiertam, securing rights to the drug in the process.
Bafiertam is a daily oral therapy that’s approved in the U.S. for relapsing forms of MS, including clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting MS, and active secondary progressive MS.
Before, patients taking Bafiertam were able to get support through Banner’s patient support program. Patients starting the medication now will be supported through Cycle Vita. Those who were already taking the therapy will continue in Banner’s program and will transition to Cycle Vita with assistance from their healthcare providers.
“Cycle is committed to supporting patients, and will work to ensure a smooth transition with no disruption to patients’ medication and care,” the company wrote in a press release.
Cycle Vita program helps patients with insurance providers
Cycle Vita offers assistance to help patients access and effectively use Bafiertam. This includes working with insurance providers to understand a person’s coverage, coordinating between doctors and insurance companies to get prior authorization and other document requirements, working with doctors to appeal certain insurance decisions, and getting Bafiertam to the appropriate specialty pharmacy.
Through the support program, patients can also learn more about available co-pay assistance programs, and have their doctors be reminded that their prescription needs to be renewed.
Bafiertam contains the active agent monomethyl fumarate (MMF), which is also the active ingredient in Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) and Vumerity (diroximel fumarate).
However, where Tecfidera delivers a slightly different molecule that’s converted to MMF in the digestive tract, Bafiertam delivers the therapy directly, which is expected to help reduce the risk of digestive side effects.
Bafiertam was approved based on trial data showing that it delivers a similar amount of MMF to the body as Tecfidera, which has previously been proven to reduce disease activity in the form of MS relapses and lesions and to slow the progression of disability.
With the acquisition of Banner, Cycle now sells two treatment options for MS. The second medication, Tascenso ODT, was approved in early 2023 as an alternative to Novartis’ Gilenya (fingolimod).
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