Malta will soon obtain a cancer drug which was approved by the European medicines Agency in October, the government said Tuesday.

The process to import Pembrolizumab, to be made available to breast cancer patients, started immediately after the drug had been certified, the Health Ministry said.

Times of Malta reported on Monday that some breast cancer patients are having to pay tens of thousands of euros out of their pocket for this powerful drug, leaving patiens who cannot afford it at a disadvantage as they would have to skip it, since they stated that the government had stopped its financial support.

The lack of accesibility to the drug nationally automatically translated into a warning that those suffering from such cancer are at risk of a premature death.

Deemed by experts as a quantum leap in the treatment of triple negative  breast cancer, Pembrolizumab is the only treatment known to furthur reduce the chances of the cancer recurring by 40 percent.

Patients stated that they have been left to fend for themselves in covering the treatment costing around €120,000, the total for a full round of treatment as recommended by the EMA.

Europa Donna and Action for Breast Cancer Foundation both wrote to the Health Ministry, voicing their serious concerns at the situation.

Pembrolizumab has become a new standard of care in the treatment of TNBC, which affects around 30 patients in Malta every year.

In a statement, the Health Ministry said that 17 cancer medicines have been added to the list of free medicines since 2017, to the benefit of over 500 patients.

It said Pembrolizumab was approved by the European Medicines Agency in October 2020 and the ministry immediately started tghe process to include this drug in the list of free cancer treatment. 

When contacted by The Malta Independent, Esther Sant, the Chairperson and Co-Founder of the Action for Breast Cancer foundation said that this news was taken very positively as this means that patients would be benefitting from such a treatment immediately after being diagnosed.

 

She stated that the current process to lay hands on this treatment is very debilitating for cancer patients as it is very tedious and does not guarantee access to Pembrolizumab in the first place.