Breast cancer drug funded

Drug funding agency Pharmac has decided to fund the drug Taxol for the treatment of early-stage breast cancers at a cost of $12.5 million over five years.

The decision comes a month after Pharmac was criticised for not subsidising Herceptin, a different kind of drug that costs about $60,000 a year for each patient.

Pharmac's medical director, Peter Moodie, expects up to 550 women a year will be treated with Paclitaxel, which is marketed as Taxol. The average cost a year for each woman is $5500.

The drug is one of a class of drugs known as taxanes. From today it will be funded for use by women with early-stage breast cancers who had positive nodes. Positive nodes indicate that the cancer may have spread.

"The clinical data shows that using taxanes in this way can help women with breast cancer live longer," said Dr Moodie.

The funding approval was welcomed by National's associate health spokeswoman, Jackie Blue, but she said the process took too long.

"Women have waited almost two years for this drug to be funded while in Australia it has been funded for five years," she said

- NZPA