A “groundbreaking” treatment for a type of blood cancer has been approved for use by the NHS in Scotland, with campaigners hailing the decision as “fantastic news”.
The charity Myeloma UK welcomed the decision by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) to approve the use of the drug talquetamab for some adults with advanced myeloma.
A form of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow, there are currently more than 35,000 patients with the condition in the UK – including more than 2,400 in Scotland.
Anne Head, 72, from Pitlochry, Perth and Kinross, said her cancer was now “untraceable” nearly two years after starting a trial of talquetamab.
She was diagnosed with the condition in 2019 after months of debilitating back pain.
Having exhausted other treatment options, she was then enrolled in a trial for talquetamab in 2024.
The grandmother of four – who is planning a charity zipline event this summer to raise funds for Myeloma UK – said: “It’s unreal, it really is. Until talquetamab, my myeloma had never been untraceable.
“To look at me you wouldn’t know there’s anything wrong at all. People kept telling me, ‘It’s a trial, don’t expect too much’.
“Not a day goes by that I’m not grateful for how much time I’ve been given and how much I’ve been able to enjoy life.”
She continued: “I’m still here and I’m still doing all the things that I enjoy doing. I’m doing a zip line in Wales with my son and my friend’s daughter in August.
“Myeloma is not a death sentence. There are all these new drugs coming in all the time. There’s hope ahead and I’m full of positivity.”
This is fantastic news and we know it will make a huge difference to people with myeloma in Scotland
Myeloma UK now expects that around 50 patients, who have exhausted other treatment options, could benefit from the drug – which targets myeloma in a different way
Talquetamab is part of a new class of drugs known as a bispecific antibody, which work by helping the immune system to recognise and kill cancer cells by binding to both myeloma cells and T cells – a type of white blood cell in the immune system.
When the bispecific antibody brings these into close contact with the myeloma cells, they are able to destroy these cells.
Currently, only a little more than half of myeloma patients survive their disease for five years or more – and just one in three patients can expect to live for 10 years post-diagnosis.
Announcing the drug’s approval for NHS use, SMC chairman Dr Rob Peel said “talquetamab may be a useful additional treatment option for some patients with advanced myeloma who have already received at least three previous treatments”.
Gabrielle King, senior policy officer at Myeloma UK, said: “This is fantastic news and we know it will make a huge difference to people with myeloma in Scotland.
“Talquetamab targets myeloma in a completely different way to currently available treatments. It is also more flexible, which means less time spent in hospital for patients and their families, and a better quality of life.”
Dr Gordon Marron, consultant haematologist at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, said he was “delighted” the drug had been approved.
He said: “It represents a major advance in the treatment of relapsed myeloma for patients who previously would have had very few good options.
“Compared to existing treatments it is highly effective and can offer durable disease control in those patients who respond.”
Nina Pinwill, of drug manufacturers Johnson and Johnson, said the approval of talquetamab was “an important step for eligible patients across Scotland”.
It came as she said that “for people living with multiple myeloma, treatment options can become increasingly limited as the disease progresses, particularly for those who have already received several lines of therapy”.
Ms Pinwill said: “We are pleased to have brought this innovation with a distinct target to the multiple myeloma community and hope it translates into improved lives.”
The SMC also approved the drug semaglutide – also known as Wegovy – for use on the NHS, to be used with with diet and exercise, to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events such as a stroke or heart attack, in adults who are overweight and have cardiovascular disease.
Dr Peel said: “Semaglutide will provide a useful treatment option to help reduce major cardiovascular events in patients who are overweight and have cardiovascular disease.”