- Agreement to provide Verzenio® (abemaciclib) free of charge to patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer (ABC)
- Lilly joins ongoing effort of Humanitarian Partnership for Access to Critical Treatment (Humanitarian PACT) to eliminate healthcare disparities for patients living with advanced breast cancer in low- and middle-income countries
- Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death for women worldwide and patients in low-resource settings face delayed diagnosis and poor access to treatment and care
SEATTLE, Wash.– January 4, 2024 – The Max Foundation (Max), a leading global nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating health equity by delivering medication, technology, and supportive services to patients globally today announced Eli Lilly and Company will provide free of charge access to Verzenio® (abemaciclib) for the treatment of HR-positive, HER2-negative ABC for patients in Kenya.
“We are thrilled to have Lilly join as a Humanitarian PACT partner to expand access to treatment for people living with advanced breast cancer,” said Pat Garcia-Gonzalez, Co-founder, and CEO of The Max Foundation. “We commend Lilly for sharing our commitment to accelerating health equity and enabling us to expand our efforts to address one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women globally.”
“At Lilly we aim to have a positive impact on patients, communities and the environment, including in low- and middle-income countries,” said Ilya Yuffa, President of Lilly International. “This donation of Verzenio to help advanced breast cancer patients in Kenya reflects our continued effort to improve access to healthcare for people living in limited-resource settings.”
Lilly’s support is part of Lilly 30×30, an effort which aims to improve access and address barriers to quality healthcare for 30 million people living in limited-resource settings annually, by 2030.
Partners in the Humanitarian PACT for ABC have agreed to invest resources and/or their unique knowledge and capabilities to support the expansion of Max Access Solutions to provide access to treatment for HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer. Max Access Solutions is Max’s humanitarian treatment access model that harnesses the power of partnerships and prioritizes individual patients’ needs to improve outcomes for cancer and other critical illnesses in low-resource healthcare settings. Max Access Solutions currently provides treatment to more than 34,000 patients in 77 low-resource countries.
The agreement with Lilly to donate Verzenio in Kenya now expands efforts to provide treatments for HR+ HER2 negative ABC to 10 low- and middle-income countries.
Late last year, through donation of medicine from Novartis AG, Mozambique became the first country to receive treatment access. In December, treatment began in Nepal with efforts ongoing for access to begin in the Bahamas, Benin, Bhutan, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and Seychelles in the coming months.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Approximately 2.2 million cases occur each year worldwide, with about 700,000 deaths annually. An estimated 45% of new cases are diagnosed each year, and more than 55% of breast cancer-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. It is estimated that as high as 80% of patients in developing countries are diagnosed at the metastatic or incurable stage.
Managing breast cancer in low-resource countries poses unique challenges. For example, routine pathology, diagnostic exams, and standard medicines are often unavailable. Breast cancer is usually diagnosed at late stages, and due to limited resources, patients may receive inadequate treatment, including supportive and palliative care.
Through the Humanitarian PACT, initiatives are being implemented to address these challenges, including engaging additional partners, expanding in-country teams, growing the physician network to treat patients, and introducing programs to strengthen health systems like diagnostics and supportive care.
Humanitarian Partnership for Access to Critical Treatment
The Humanitarian Partnership for Access to Critical Treatments (Humanitarian PACT) is a collaboration among professional, nonprofit, and commercial organizations that share the commitment of The Max Foundation to eliminate healthcare disparities by accelerating access to innovative medicines. Partners of the Humanitarian PACT for ABC include the ABC Global Alliance, the American Society for Clinical Pathology, Novartis AG, Cepheid, and Eli Lilly and Company.
About The Max Foundation
The Max Foundation is a leading global health nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating health equity. For 26 years, Max has pioneered practical, scalable, high-quality solutions to bring life-extending treatments and patient-centered health care to more than 100,000 people living with cancer and critical illness in low- and middle-income countries. Max believes in a world where all people can access high-impact medicines, where geography is not destiny, and where everyone can strive for health with dignity and with hope. Learn more at www.themaxfoundation.org.
