Posted by Michael Wonder on 06 Jul 2017
Canadians living with multiple myeloma need access to therapies now
4 July 2017 - Multiple myeloma, commonly referred to as myeloma, is an incurable cancer of the plasma cells found in the bone marrow.
In 2016, Health Canada approved three new drugs for the treatment of myeloma: carfilzomib (Kyprolis) on January 15th 2016; daratumumab (Darzalex) on 19 June 2016 and ixazomib (Ninlaro) on 8 August 2016. Although Health Canada approval is a necessary first step in accessing new treatment options, it is the pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pCODR) that recommends whether a new drug should be funded by public drug plans. Alarmingly, none of these innovative Health Canada-approved treatments are being funded by any of the provincial public drug plans. In the last 12 months, pCODR has issued negative reimbursement (funding) for both daratumumab (Darzalex) and ixazomib (Ninlaro).
Despite having received a positive pCODR recommendation on 21 June 2016, carfilzomib (Kyprolis) is still awaiting negotiation decisions with the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA), the body that negotiates drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies before they are funded by provincial drug plans.
