Welsh Government
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Welsh NHS to fund new drug for patients with leukaemia
A new cancer drug to treat leukaemia will be available to patients on NHS in Wales, Health and Social Services Minister Mark Drakeford has confirmed.
The Welsh Government has ratified a recommendation by the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group (AWMSG) that ponatinib, marketed under the trade name Iclusig, will be made available to leukaemia patients in Wales when other avenues of treatment have failed.
The decision means Wales will be the only part of the UK to make the drug routinely available on the NHS for patients with all forms of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
In England, ponatinib is only available for patients with CML from the cancer drugs fund if a person has the specific T315i mutation but not the wider indications for use recommended by AWMSG.
Professor Drakeford said:
“I’m pleased to announce we will be making this medicine available to adult patients with chronic phase, accelerated phase or blast phase chronic myeloid leukaemia, following a recommendation from the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group.
“I am proud that here in Wales we have a robust system in place where people have access to proven and effective treatments for cancers and other life-threatening conditions.”
