New Brunswick has become the first province in Canada to implement a coordinated, province-wide approach to analyzing neurofilament light chain (NfL) protein, a blood-based biomarker that can signal increased multiple sclerosis activity, TVA CIMT CHAU reported.
The launch marks a milestone in a provincial partnership between the Horizon Health Network, the Vitalité Health Network and Roche Canada, a project announced one year earlier. The initiative is intended to give people living with multiple sclerosis faster and more equitable access to the blood test.
Dr. Chadi Darwich, chief neurologist at the Vitalité Health Network and principal investigator of the health-system impact study, said the rollout was years in the making. Having local access to the biomarker, he said, could help clinicians detect a rise in disease activity or a possible relapse more quickly, and support earlier treatment decisions when appropriate.
What the NfL blood test does
NfL is a protein released into the blood when nerve cells are damaged. Measuring it can give clinicians an additional tool to monitor multiple sclerosis — a chronic disease of the central nervous system — alongside MRI scans and clinical assessments. Researchers in New Brunswick will study how the NfL analysis is used in clinical practice and what effect it has on patients, health professionals and the health system as a whole.
What the study will track
The study will examine several concrete measures: use of MRI, decisions about MS treatment, specialist appointments and hospitalizations, as well as the experiences of both patients and clinicians with NfL protein analysis. The goal is to determine whether earlier detection of disease activity through a simple blood draw changes how care is delivered in the province.
Partners frame the rollout as a step toward personalized care
Michele D’Elia, PhD, general manager of medical affairs, access and health policy at Roche Diagnostics Canada, said the company’s commitment extends beyond diagnosis. Roche, D’Elia said, is committed to offering people with multiple sclerosis and their families what they need most: personalized care and stability.
For patients in New Brunswick, the practical change is access — the test can now be run locally rather than requiring samples to leave the province, removing a barrier that the health networks say has delayed monitoring for some patients.
Darwich said the implementation of the NfL blood test in New Brunswick is the result of years of work requiring collaboration among the province’s institutions, adding that he is proud to see the project come to fruition and to put another valuable tool at the disposal of MS patients in the province.
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