104 cycles of cancer drug approved

Health Minister Michael McGimpsey revealed that in the Western Trust just 104 cycles of the Herceptin drug - developed by US biotech firm Genentech - were approved last year.

Essentially, this would have allowed for a year's treatment for about six women. The Trust spent over 100,000 paying for the extremely expensive drug in 2009/10.

According to Genentech: "Herceptin is approved for the treatment of early-stage breast cancer that is Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2-positive (HER2+) and has spread into the lymph nodes, or is HER2+ and has not spread into the lymph nodes."

It is a biological formulation rather than a simple chemical compound and its use is restricted here due to its high cost. Because it is under patent cheap alternatives are currently unavailable.

Mr McGimpsey outlined details of how much the 104 cycles approved in WHSCT last year would have cost.

He stated: "The cost of the drug is dependent on the patient's weight. The cost of one cycle of Herceptin for a 70kg patient is 1166.66; to treat one patient (70Kg) with adjuvant Herceptin (which is 18 cycles in total-one cycle every three weeks for one year) the cost for the drug alone is approximately 21000.00. The cost increases as the patient's weight increases."