Funding announced for new "wonder drug"
Today, New Zealand women with an aggressive form of incurable breast cancer have been given hope for the future. Pharmac has announced plans to fund Enhertu for HER2- positive advanced breast cancer. HER2-positive breast cancer accounts for 15-20% of all breast cancer diagnoses in New Zealand.
This announcement will give women in our community the ability to spend precious time with their loved ones. For these women and their whānau, we’re thrilled.
Breast Cancer Foundation NZ has been campaigning for Enhertu (also called trastuzumab deruxtecan or T-Dxd) to be publicly funded because of its dramatic potential to significantly extend survival.
Breast cancer medical oncologist Dr Sheridan Wilson appeared on Newshub earlier this year and described Enhertu as a "game-changer" for HER2-positive breast cancer.
"What we know is if you use T-Dxd in the second line treatment, it extends the time to the cancer progressing four-fold compared to the type of drug that we would use in New Zealand at the moment. It also improves survival.”
"It's state-of-the-art treatment and it's been built into all the international guidelines already…How well this drug works is special," Dr Wilson said.
Ah-Leen Rayner, chief executive of Breast Cancer Foundation NZ, says: “The availability of Enhertu is going to be life-changing for our women. Our country’s top breast cancer specialists declared Enhertu to be one of the top three priorities for unfunded drugs in New Zealand.”
“We’re pleased Pharmac has worked at speed to approve a second breast cancer drug from its budget boost in June. Ground-breaking treatments like Enhertu can stop lives being cut short and if we can keep increasing access to new medicines like this, New Zealand can catch up with the rest of the world."
Enhertu will be funded for eligible people from 1 January 2025. If you have questions about eligibility please speak to your medical team or phone our specialist breast nurses during business hours 0800 22 68773 (BC NURSE). It’s free.