In a first, WHO approves medicine to make breast cancer treatment cheaper
The
World
Health Organization
(WHO) announced Wednesday that it had for the first time approved a
"biosimilar" medicine -- one derived from living sources
rather than chemicals -- to make breast cancer treatment affordable
to women globally.
The
trastuzumab drug has shown "high efficacy" in curing early
stage breast cancer and in some cases more advanced forms of the
disease, the WHO said in a statement.
But
the annual cost of the original drug is an average (of) $20,000, "a
price that puts it out of reach of many women and healthcare systems
in most countries," the statement added.
However,
the biosimilar version of trastuzumab is generally 65 per cent
cheaper than the original.
"With
this WHO listing, and more products expected in the prequalification
pipeline, prices should decrease even further," the WHO said.
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