Breast cancer treatment to be 65% less expensive, says WHO

World Health Organisation (WHO) recently announced that for the first time they have approved a biosimilar medicine. This is derived from living beings rather than chemicals, thus, making the treatment of breast cancer affordable globally. WHO reportedly said that the trastuzumab drug has responded with high efficacy in curing the early stages of breast cancer. In some cases, it has also treated advanced forms of the disease. Here is how much the cure would cost:

Breast cancer treatment now affordable

The annual cost of the original drug used to treat breast cancer is USD 20,000. It was reportedly stated by WHO that the drug was out of the reach of many women and healthcare systems all over the world. However, this biosimilar version of the drug is almost 65% less expensive than the original version of trastuzumab used to treat breast cancer. WHO reportedly stated that prices might drop even further in the following years.

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The biosimilar version of trastuzumab for treating breast cancer is a biotherapeutic medicine produced from biological sources like cells rather than synthesised chemicals. Companies have manufactured this version of the drug after the original product’s patent had expired. The director-general of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reportedly stated that WHO prequalification of biosimilar version of trastuzumab is "good news for women everywhere”. He further added that women in many cultures all over the world suffer from gender disparity when it is about access to health treatments like breast cancer. In underdeveloped countries, there is also the burden of the lack of access to treatment concerning high-cost medicines. The WHO director-general reportedly stated that “effective, affordable” cancer treatment should be the right of all women and not a “privilege of a few”.

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In recent years, a few of these biosimilar versions of trastuzumab for breast cancer treatment have come out in the market but none had previously been prequalified by WHO. The prequalification by WHO assures a country that they are buying “quality health product” which will benefit them not just moneywise but also quality-wise. The assistant general for Medicines and Health Products of WHO, Dr Mariangela Simao, reportedly said that they need to act to prevent any more “preventable deaths” like breast cancer. She added that the availability of biosimilar versions of the drug has decreased the prices making innovative treatments affordable and easily available to the masses.

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