“The ever increasing rise in the price of cancer and other medicines threatens individual lives and public health, and should be halted and reversed by all lawful means, including the use of compulsory licensing.” – Philippa Saunders, UACT

Request for Compulsory license on T-DM1 in the UK

March 20, 2017. The Coalition for Affordable T-DM1, of which UACT is a member, sent a follow-up letter and annex to the UK governement regarding the Coalition’s request to exercise Crown Use on patents on the breast cancer drug T-DM1.

November 25, 2016. The Coalition for Affordable T-DM1 submitted a request for a compulsory licence on patents related to the breast cancer drug T-DM1 sold by Roche under the brand name Kadcyla.

October 1, 2015. The Coalition officially notified the UK government of our intent to request that the government to take several actions to make the breast cancer drug T-DM1 (trastuzumab emtansine) more affordable. The drug made by Roche (trade name Kadcyla) was declared too expensive for the NHS to provide and was only available in England through the Cancer Drug Fund. Futhermore, due to budget constraints, the decision was made September 3rd, 2015 to take T-DM1 off the Cancer Drug Fund, leaving breast cancer patients in the UK without access to this critical treatment option. The Coalition for Affordable T-DM1 is asking the government to grant compulsory licences to make bio-similar/bio-generic versions of the cancer drugs, under the Crown Use provisions in the UK patent law.

  • Press Release. “Coalition for Affordable T-DM1 Asks the Government to Employ Crown Use Authority to Lower Price of Expensive Cancer Drug.”
  • Frequently Asked Questions. Regarding T-DM1, intellectual property rights, competition law and the Coalition for Affordable T-DM1.
  • Sign on letter of support. Fill out the form on this page to join our efforts and sign on to a letter of support of the request for affordable T-DM1.

Members of the Coalition

Organizations

Individuals

  • Dr. Andrew Hill, PhD, University of Liverpool
  • Chris Redd, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry
  • Diarmaid McDonald, Access to Medicines Campaigner
  • Dr. Mohga Kamal-Yanni, MPhil, MBE, Work on access to medicines
  • Susannah Markandya, Barrister