Pfizer - stop playing with patients’ lives.

Drug company Pfizer generated over £2bn in 2015 and 2016 from the sales of just one medicine: breast cancer treatment palbociclib (Ibrance). This is a drug that can change lives and which could be a lifeline to thousands of women with breast cancer - including around 5,500 women in England alone. But it’s currently unavailable on the NHS because Pfizer are demanding such a huge price for it. 

At £140 per pill, or £38,482 per patient per year, the body which reviews drugs for use on the NHS (NICE) ruled in February this year that the drug is too expensive to approve. But the real sting in the tail is that Pfizer don’t need to charge this amount: the drug can be made and sold at a profit for £1.

If Pfizer really wanted to “alleviate suffering around the world” by “improving access to medicine”, as they claim on their website, they could start by lowering their prices. Right now their profiteering is putting patients’ lives at risk and placing even greater pressure on our NHS.  

Pfizer is giving palbociclib for free to NHS patients until the end of September this year while a decision by NICE is pending. This might seem like a generous offer, but don't be fooled - it is a relatively common tactic used to increase pressure for a drug to be approved.

Emma, a Just Treatment leader and a breast cancer patient who is currently being treated with palbociclib has today launched a campaign to ensure women across the UK get access to this drug. She wants Pfizer to lower their price to a pound a pill.

Pfizer is playing with patients’ lives and we can’t let them get away with it. Sign Emma’s petition today and join the campaign to make sure everyone who needs access to palbociclib gets it: justtreatment.org/emma