NorthWest Biotherapeutics Inc (NWBO)

[Lykiri]

Sentiment,

Thank you for the great work!

ASCO 2018 Presentation for DCVax-L - Sunday, June 3, 2018 - transcribed

Linda Powers

Quote:

“So, one last point before we start our line up is a correct-the-record point - there’ve been a lot of claims flying around since our publication came out. And one of the claims that some folks have put out, including a group in the UK, is that this treatment will never be viable because the cost will be impossible because it costs 250,000 pounds sterling per year. That is factually wrong. It is just wrong. That information was not checked with us. It has never been the case. It is not the case. So… suffice it to say we’ve worked for years to make DCVax a practical product with the goal that it will be widely available and viable.”

30 May 2018 by Katie Sheen.

BLOG

Our response to the results of the DCVax®-L immunotherapy trial.

https://www.braintumourresearch.org/media/our-blog/blog-item/our-blog/2018/05/30/our-response-to-the-results-of-the-dcvax--l-immunotherapy-trial


Quote:

“Our primary worry stems from the fact that this treatment is currently only being offered to people in the UK who can either raise sufficient funds or afford to pay the £250,000 needed to access the treatment privately. Families are selling their houses, cashing in their pensions and life insurances or increasing their debts in order to keep loved ones alive. What happens when the money runs out and they can’t afford any more injections? What about all the people who may now feel that their only hope lies with this treatment, but who simply can’t raise that much money?
This is not always the case with promising new treatments, which are usually only available to those participating in a trial that is free. The situation with the DCVax®-L vaccine has arisen because the trial that has been reported on was closed to further patients in 2016, which means that patients hearing about these promising results are not able to volunteer to participate.
We must question whether it is ethical to make the vaccine available privately, due to these issues around affordability and access: is it reasonable to at least give some people the option to pay for it, or not? Will health insurance companies foot the bill, given this new data?
In the longer term, could the NHS afford to pay for such an expensive treatment?
The hope is that as the technology develops costs will fall, but how long will this take? Where will the Centres be that can offer the technique? Even the first step requires tissue taken from surgery to be flash frozen - something that is not universally available in all NHS hospitals.
Whenever trials publish such early stage data, we must ensure that they are not giving false hope and putting families into a situation where they have to go into debt or seek help from their communities through fundraising in order to access these potentially promising treatments, particularly when the data is hopeful but not yet clear.
This situation highlights even more strongly than before the necessity for increasing the funding available for brain tumour research: Recent funding announcements from the government and CRUK are encouraging but is still not enough. We urgently need to get UK-based trials open for patients that are at the cutting edge of new approaches. They must be given the opportunity, regardless of their financial status, to choose to get involved in clinical trials. Only then will such announcements provide realistic hope for the future.
We are engaging with pharma, bio-tech and the UK Government to get our questions answered.”

Comment:
Kevin Quinn Mon Jun 04 2018:

Quote:” You stated:- "In the longer term, could the NHS afford to pay for such an expensive treatment? The hope is that as the technology develops costs will fall, but how long will this take? Where will the Centres be that can offer the technique? Even the first step requires tissue taken from surgery to be flash frozen - something that is not universally available in all NHS hospitals." Well, I would appreciate if you took the effort to find out some of the answers to your questions, because most of the answers are readily available. I can tell you now that other immunotherapies such as the approved Car-T therapies cost 2 to 3 times the cost of DCVax. The immune checkpoint inhibitors are more expensive in terms of likely total cost. They have an inferior toxicity profile and a much lower response rate. You really should know all of this, if you hope to be an informed resource for cancer patients. If you are aware of the role of NICE then you will know how they undertake technology assessments, and how they assess for survival benefit, quality of life, safety and value for money. They use a formula called Quality Adjusted Life Years.”

Comment:
Jeannine Walston Tue Jun 05 2018

Although not always the case for all GBM patients receiving DCVax-L, I have met some long-term GBM survivors treated with DCVax-L at University of California, Los Angeles. They include: Jennifer Sugioka, a 17 year GBM survivor; Brad Silver, a 14 year GBM survivor; Elijah Luyten, MD, a 10 year GBM survivor; Gallia Kistler, a 6 year GBM survivor; and, Jamil Newirth, a 6 year GBM survivor. (published in August 2017 by Jeannine Walston)