There are new and growing calls to get a life-saving ovarian cancer treatment funded in Canada and those taking on this fight say it underscores a much larger problem in this country.
As CityNews previously reported , negotiations failed to find a way for public health plans to fund Elahere (mirvetuximab soravtansine). It’s designed specifically for women with ovarian cancer who are unable to receive platinum-based chemotherapy, like Gertrude Spatafora.
“The other medications that are covered by OHIP are not working,” she told CityNews in June. Her doctors had recommended Elahere but without coverage each treatment can cost up to $30,000.
Spatafora was told she needs at least three treatments a year.
“And if you do the math, that’s very tough on the budget,” she told CityNews.
Since our first report aired there have been a few new developments.
Spatafora and her family have launched a petition to the House of Commons to get the drug funded. Ovarian Cancer Canada has also began a public awareness campaign to do the same.
“We will lose women while we wait for this process to finalize,” said Ovarian Cancer Canada CEO Tania Vrionis.
Elahere has been approved by Health Canada for use and Canada’s Drug Agency (CDA-AMC) recommends that it be reimbursed by public drug plans for treatment. But talks to fund it failed in May.
That’s when AbbVie, the drugmaker and the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA), which negotiates drug prices on behalf of federal, provincial, and territorial public drug plans, could not strike a deal.
“To see it fall apart without a resolution was rather shocking and quite honestly it’s infuriating,” Vrionis said. “Elahere is the first treatment for some women with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in more than a decade. This is the only option available that can give these women more time.”
What remains unanswered since our story aired is whether the two parties will head back to the bargaining table.
The pCPA says the ball is in AbbVie’s court.
“While negotiations have concluded, the pCPA process allows for AbbVie to submit an unsolicited offer if they wish to re-engage in negotiation. The pCPA would welcome an unsolicited offer from AbbVie,” a pCPA spokesperson told CityNews.
In response, AbbVie also says it’s ready to head back to the table.
“AbbVie wants to negotiate with pCPA as quickly as possible to ensure Canadian women who need Elahere can get it,” a spokesperson said. But when asked if the company plans to submit a new offer to the pCPA, they did not answer.
Vrionis says Elahere’s funding struggles are part of a larger problem in Canada.
“Canada is the worst in the G7 in terms of bringing new drugs to market, which is a huge concern,” she said.
Issues like this, Vrionis said, don’t help.
“That’s the bigger issue. I think we really need to be careful here. I’m very concerned that companies won’t want to bring their drugs to Canadians because it is so difficult.”
Both Spatafora and Ovarian Cancer Canada are far from giving up in their fight to get Elahere funded, hoping their recent efforts will get both parties back to the table and soon.
“We do need the support of Canadians across the country to also stand up and say, ‘this is an important health issue, and an important precedent that we really have to rally around and say Canadians deserve access to treatments, full stop.'” Vrionis said.
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