Subsidies for high-cost drug to treat aggressive blood cancer

A high-cost drug used to treat a type of aggressive blood cancer has been approved for government subsidies.

- Yap Wei Qiang

Axicabtagene ciloleucel, which is marketed as Yescarta, is a new type of treatment that harnesses cells as "living drugs".

It is the second such treatment to be subsidised, after tisagenlecleucel, which is marketed as Kymriah.

This provides a lifeline for patients who have not responded to conventional treatments and would otherwise find the drug's high price tag way beyond their reach.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed that it has added Yescarta to its Cell, Tissue and Gene Therapy Product (CTGTP) List for specific clinical uses.

This comes after a price reduction by the drug manufacturer.

Made from human or animal cells or tissues, or man-made genetic material, CTGTPs can be used to diagnose, treat or prevent a variety of conditions.

The two drugs on the list are assessed to be clinically effective and cost-effective.

Kymriah is used to treat specific blood cancers that have returned after initial treatment or stopped responding to treatment.

Like Kymriah, Yescarta is a type of personalised cancer treatment called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy that modifies a patient's own immune cells (T-cells) to make them more effective at fighting cancer.

Both are reportedly sold in Singapore at approximately US$375,000 (S$481,000) per treatment.