Drug funding decision offers ‘so much hope’

WELLINGTON: Government drugbuying agency Pharmac will today announce it has struck a provisional deal to cover the cost of Ibrance, a pricey and potentially lifeprolonging treatment for which breast cancer victim Wiki Mulholland and other women have campaigned.

It means at least 2000 women could begin receiving the drug by as early as April.

Ms Mulholland was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer diagnosis 18 months ago.

The motherofthree often wondered whether she would survive long enough to receive public funding for drugs that could extend her life and those of thousands of other New Zealand women battling the disease.

‘‘There have been times where it really felt like it was never going to happen,’’ Ms Mulholland said.

‘‘It’s lifechanging. It’s just given me so much hope.’’

Pharmac will now run one final consultation on the proposal until the end of the month.

All going to plan, the drug could be in patients’ hands from April 1.

It will cover both first and secondline treatments, making New Zealand one of the first countries in the world to do so.

About 2000 New Zealanders are expected to be eligible for Ibrance — the brand name for palbociclib — and then up to 950 others each year.

At a nonsubsidised price of $66,000 per year for breast cancer sufferers, many women have been forced to fundraise or borrow from family members in a bid to prolong their lives.

Drug company Pfizer says it will now provide the drug free to qualifying breast cancer patients until the subsidy comes into force in April.

The Pharmac announcement comes at the end of a long public campaign by Ms Mulholland and other survivors.

They have marched on Parliament, gathered a 34,000signature petition, confronted politicians and repeatedly told their stories in hope Pharmac would take up the drug — which has been publicly funded in Australia since last year — and others like it.

Ms Mulholland was among a group of women who told confronting personal stories to a parliamentary select committee .

While she was proud to have made a difference for women, she said it should not have been so hard.

‘‘It was gutwrenching to put it on the table and share with other people your fear about dying and leaving behind your family,’’ Ms Mulholland said.

‘‘It’s quite incredible to think you have to live in a country where you have to do that.’’

The ranks of cancer support group Sweet Louise have swelled to more than 700 members since the petition was delivered to Parliament in 2018.

Chief executive Philippa Reed said 205 of the group’s members died last year and 15 in the past month alone.

‘‘This is really going to make a difference.

‘‘There are so many women who will need this and it’s a fantastic step,’’ Ms Reed said.

‘‘But it’s a shame it’s taken so long.’’ Pharmac chief executive Sarah Fitt said the agency had spent the time since finding potential competitor treatments to be able to leverage a better deal.

‘‘We have to be absolutely sure that the next $100 million we spend, we’re spending it on the right medicine,’’ Ms Fitt said.

While Ms Fitt said consultation should be straightforward, no final decision had been made and the agency needed to ensure the final eligibility criteria was right. — The New Zealand Herald

❛ It’s lifechanging. It’s just given me so much hope

Wiki Mulholland