Women who feared losing vital cancer treatment offered new hope

Women with breast cancer who feared losing access to a critical drug Zoladex have been offered a lifeline.

The federal government's PBS advisory group has recommended listing an equivalent medication, triptorelin.

The government said it was committed to listing all medications recommended by PBAC.

Women with breast cancer left contemplating drastic surgery because of uncertainty over a critical drug have been offered a lifeline, with an equivalent medication on track to be subsidised.

The move is set to provide a long-term treatment solution to breast cancer and endometriosis patients who have grappled with uncertainty in recent months over access to the drug Zoladex.

As revealed by the ABC in June , AstraZeneca, the maker of the goserelin 3.6mg implant known as Zoladex, said it would pull the drug from both the PBS and private market in November.

An urgently convened out-of-session meeting of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) recommended the PBS listing for an equivalent medication, triptorelin, be expanded so it could be used for a number of women's health conditions.

A health department spokesperson said the federal government was committed to listing all medications recommended by PBAC.

"The government lists medicines on the PBS at the earliest opportunity once recommended by PBAC, and all relevant listing requirements have been met by the pharmaceutical company," they said.

In June, AstraZeneca said the Australian price for the product, sold as Zoladex, was too low, "making it unsustainable to supply the medicine on the PBS".

The drug company initially offered a temporary access program, however later bowed to widespread pressure from advocates and patients, announcing it would provide the medication for free to eligible patients without other suitable treatment pathways.

Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) Director of Policy and Advocacy Vicki Durston said having an alternative medication like triptorelin on the PBS — rather than a separate access program run by a pharmaceutical company motivated by profits — was crucial.

"I think what [AstraZeneca's access program] presented is so much uncertainty," she said.

"We want to ensure… that we don't see a two-tiered model where pharmaceutical companies are running programs that sit outside those regulatory structures.