Miracle Opdivo cancer drug that saved Jarryd Roughead’s life discounted for patients

THE miracle drug that saved Hawks star Jarryd Roughead’s life will be made available at a huge discount for cancer patients in health boost that will add years to lives.

Jarryd Roughhead’s life was saved by a miracle drug that will now be available at a huge discount for cancer patients. Picture: Jason Edwards

THE miracle drug that saved Hawthorn star Jarryd Roughead’s life will be made available at a huge discount for cancer patients in a $1.1 billion federal government health boost.

Opdivo has enabled late-stage patients with no options to undergo remarkable recoveries and will now be readily available to fight renal and lung cancer — the nation’s deadliest — which kills 8800 Australians each year.

From Tuesday, about 4500 cancer patients a year will gain affordable access to the groundbreaking drug.

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Cohuna farmer Mark Watkins says the drug has added years to his life.

Mr Watkins suffers from stage four non-smoking lung cancer.

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Treatments currently cost about $5000 each, which can add up to $130,000 a year for some patients.

But, under one of the biggest-ever listings on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, it will cost just $38.80 per treatment.

Patients with a healthcare concession cards will pay just $6.30.

Since being approved and subsidised for melanoma, among the success stories have been Hawks star Roughead and businessman Ron Walker.

Three years on from a terminal lung cancer diagnosis, Cohuna dad Mark Watkins said he noticed the drug’s effects almost immediately.

“I know it is a cliche, but this is a miracle drug,” he said.

“I always thought my body was strong, it just needed to be shown the way.” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australians with lung and renal cancer, which claims 1030 lives annually, would now be given the same hope.

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“The listing of Nivolumab (Opdivo) will change the lives of thousands of patients across Australia,” he said.

“This treatment will save patients tens of thousands of dollars, is more effective than current therapies and will extend and improve their quality of life.”

Last December — seven months after his melanoma returned and threatened his life — Hawthorn star Roughead revealed his body had a remarkable response to Opdivo.

“They gave me the news that I’ve had a complete ­response to the treatment so far and (my doctor has) given me the all-clear to get back to living normally, to doing things I want — which is playing footy and living my life,” he said at the time.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said Opdivo was a “significant new treatment”, which could extend lives and was more effective and safer than current therapies.

With only 15 per cent of lung cancer patients surviving for five years under existing treatments, Assoc Prof Ben Solomon, from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, said providing access to Opdivo as the first immunotherapy for lung cancer offered new hope for many.

About one in five lung cancer patients responds to Opdivo, adding years to their lives far beyond what other therapies have ever offered.

Sue Roche, with husband Tony, is another Aussie who’s lucky to be alive after being treated with the revolutionary cancer drug.

“Lung cancer is a cancer where, with traditional treatments like chemotherapy, the outcomes have been pretty poor. But with some of the newer treatments and in particular immunotherapy we are seeing these spectacular results,” he said.

“It is a big deal for us, but more particularly for patients.”

Opdivo will be added to the PBS to treat both locally advanced and metastatic stages of non-small cell lung cancer and stage four clear cell variant renal cell carcinoma.

Like other immunotherapies that have changed the face of cancer treatment over the past five years, the drug supercharges a person’s own immune system so it can attack the cancer anywhere in their body.

Opdivo also blocks a protein called PD-1 in cancer cells that helps them hide them from the immune system, opening up the chance for the body to overcome the cancer.

The drug was so promising during clinical trials for lung cancer the US Food and Drug Administration approved its use in March 2015 before the results were even published.

While a subsidy for lung and renal cancer has taken longer to be introduced in Australia, manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb has provided it on compassionate access grounds for patients without any other choice.

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Mark Watkins, with wife Corrine and children Luis and Jim, says the drug has made him feel stronger. Picture: Rob Leeson.

DIAGNOSED with lung cancer Mark Watkins was told he had between six months and a year to live — but that was three years ago.

The Cohuna father of two is now feeling stronger and more alive than at any time since his April 8, 2014 diagnosis, thanks to a last-ditch trial that saw him placed on Opdivo.

“We were down at the MCG on Sunday for Auskick and I was out there on the ground with my seven-year-old, my beautiful boy, as he was playing with the whole crowd cheering,” he said.

“If it wasn’t for this drug I wouldn’t have been there.”

On the day of his wife Korryn’s 40th birthday, Mr Watkins was diagnosed with stage four non-small cell lung cancer despite being fit and having never smoked.

After several unsuccessful treatments, doctors at the Peter Mac offered him a place on an Opdivo trial — but it only had a one-in-five chance of working.

“Within a week I started feeling stronger inside,” he said.

“Within two weeks there was a noticeable difference in the lumps on my neck.

“When I had the first scan my cancer had shrunk 70 per cent and my strength just came back.”

While they do not know how long the drug will continue to work, the family is looking forward to a future with renewed hope.

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