The Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition yesterday said Pharmac had refused funding for Kadcyla, one of two drugs which women with advanced breast cancer hope will be funded by Pharmac. "This is a huge blow for women with advanced HER2 positive breast cancer who took a petition to Parliament in October 2018 calling for Pharmac to fund this medicine," Breast Cancer Aotearoa chairwoman Libby Burgess said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for Roche said Roche representatives and senior members of Pharmac met on April 12. "At this meeting Roche was notified that currently the prioritisation of Kadcyla meant that Pharmac would be investing in other medicines. When Roche asked what those other priorities were, Pharmac would not share any further information," the spokeswoman said.
