This immunotherapy drug helped me beat cancer - instead of $229k it now costs $31

When she was just 26-years-old, Bianca Tesoriero’s life changed in an instant, following a visit to her local emergency department.

A life-changing medication that gave a young Sydney woman with rare blood cancer a second chance has been approved for PBS listing 10 times faster than average, giving patients greater treatment options in the early stages of their diagnosis.

When she was just 26-years-old, Bianca Tesoriero’s life changed in an instant, following a visit to her local emergency department.

She’d gone to hospital after an ovarian cyst burst – but within hours of what should have been a straight forward visit, she was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer known as acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

Bianca Edwards, with her 11 week old son Eddie Edwards. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

“It took me about a week or two to really digest it,” Bianca told the Telegraph.

“Then when you realise what your new reality is, it’s really hard. I had just come back from a trip around the world, and I had no symptoms so it really was just a shock.”

The cancer is common in children, but very rare in adults – which meant Bianca was unable to leave hospital for the next four months, undergoing chemotherapy before she was accepted into a clinical trial for an immunotherapy known as Blincyto.

The drug treatment – which works by enabling the immune system to identify, attack and destroy abnormal white blood cancer cells – allowed her to spend most of her time at home, rather than on the ward.

“The immunotherapy meant less chemotherapy, so I was less sick which was positive,” she said.

Bianca Edwards got a second chance from the immunotherapy drug. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

“It also meant less time in hospital, because instead of sitting in hospital for hours or overnight, the immunotherapy was from home, which really was amazing for my mental health.”

Until this week the drug was only available through the PBS for the treatment of patients with later stages of ALL, which are usually far more difficult to treat.

For people like Bianca, the drug would have cost $229,000 per course – however the treatment will now cost a maximum of $31 per script.

“It’s obviously not cheap at all, so having that accessibility to a treatment that wasn’t available to people like me is just amazing,” she said.

The drug became available for all sufferers of ALL this week – just 35 days after the TGA approved the drug for extended use. ‘

This is more than 10 times faster than the average time from registration to PBS listing in Australia, which is approximately 647 days.

It’s been five years since Bianca Edwards’ cancer diagnosis. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Five years after her diagnosis, Bianca is now a mum, having just had her first baby – Eddie.

“I got married in Italy and had my first baby which is crazy to think about considering it’s only been five years,” she said.

“I feel really grateful and just so happy about how much has changed in that time.”

Associate Professor Shaun Fleming said the listing of Blincyto meant patients could avoid the potentially fatal side effects of chemotherapy.

“Typically, patients with ALL are being treated with long-term, intensive chemotherapy, with

the aim for cancer to go into remission and hopefully attain long term cures,” he said.

“However, this means they are also likely to experience some side effects which can have long-term complications.

“Sometimes, complications alone can be serious enough to be life-threatening.”

Originally published as This immunotherapy drug helped me beat cancer - instead of $229k it now costs $31