Funding of cancer drug Ibrance comes too little, too late for Northlander

Donna MacMillan is happy that unlike her, the next line of breast cancer sufferers will be able to afford the drug Ibrance. Photo / Supplied

Donna MacMillan was forced to sell her beloved 1972 Valiant Charger to fund her $66,000 cancer drug Ibrance before the Government announced the drug would be publicly funded.

The announcement came too little, too late for the Kaitaia mum but she's happy the initiative will help the next line of patients.

She welcomed Pharmac's decision to fully fund the drug, saying a lot of women up and down the country have died over the years as they simply could not afford to pay $6000 a month for Ibrance.

Pharmac last week announced access for the life-extending drug will become available to all patients, whether in the first-line, second-line and subsequent-line treatment, from April 1.

More than 600 women in New Zealand are diagnosed with advanced breast cancer every
year.

MacMillan was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011 but entered into remission after a double mastectomy and months of radiation, chemotherapy and other drug treatment. Seven years later, the cancer returned.

She and her husband worked extra jobs, fundraised, started a Givealittle page and sold assets over 11 months to pay the nearly $66,000 or almost $6000 per month for her monthly dose.

That's the cap the Government put on what women have to spend before they qualify to get it for the cost of a $5 prescription.

MacMillan had to sell her 1972 Valiant Charger for more than $40,000 and the proceeds was used to fund the majority of the $66,000 she spent on the Ibrance tablets.

The classic car was her retirement investment.

Ibrance will not cure her but will give her more time with her family.

MacMillan had to sell this 1972 Valiant Charger which was her retirement investment to fund her cancer treatment. Photo / Supplied

"I am extremely happy for the next line of women who cannot afford Ibrance. It's pleasing that they won't have to go through the same financial struggle that I went through and that's why I backed the marches and a petition to Parliament," she said.

In October 2018, around 200 people with breast cancer marched to Parliament demanding funding for the drug.

"It's exciting to see that public pressure has returned an excellent result as it's impossible for most women throughout the country, not just Northland, to afford the drug and unfortunately so many of them have died because they just couldn't access the drug,"
MacMillan said.

Donna MacMillan had already forked out $66,000 on cancer drug Ibrance before Pharmac decided to publicly fund the tablets. Photo / Supplied

Pharmac has also decided to remove the requirement for patients to have postmenopausal endocrine levels for 12 months or greater from the special authority criteria for accessing funded Fulvestrant, another cancer drug.

This will ensure that the criteria for Ibrance and Fulvestrant are aligned, which is particularly relevant for people taking both drugs.

The latest new cancer registration, in 2016, showed 1143 people with cancer in Northland; a cancer incidence rate of 346 per 100,000 people compared with the national rate of 331.

The mortality rate in Northland is 136, compared with the national rate of 122.