Innovative Partnerships Offer Enhanced Patient Access to Treatment

Novartis Oncology is committed to ensuring access to our medications to patients in need. Our global patient assistance programs have helped more than 30,000 patients gain access to Glivec and now include Tasigna.

Creative Approach to Patient Assistance Programs Enhances Access to Novel Cancer Drugs

Novartis Oncology has a long-held commitment to consistently discovering, developing and making broadly available novel therapies that improve and extend the lives of people with cancer. We partner with governments, patient organizations and others to develop flexible approaches to helping appropriate patients worldwide get the medicines and support they need.

In 2002, when the breakthrough drug Glivec^® was introduced, Novartis recognized the critical impact it has on patients' lives and created a full donation program, the Glivec International Patient Assistance Program (GIPAP). Through GIPAP, we provide access to Glivec for eligible patients from 80 developing countries, who are not covered by local reimbursement plans or insurance, and have no other financial resources.

To date, GIPAP has provided access to free drug, support, information, education and referrals to more than 30,000 patients in need who have been properly diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia or gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). The program is one of the furthest-reaching global direct-to-patient drug donation and support programs ever developed for a cancer therapy.

Innovative Approaches to Providing Access

The challenge of providing global access to medicines is complicated by substantial country-to-country variations in health policies and infrastructure, pricing, reimbursement, and other concerns. In response, Novartis developed innovative approaches to enhancing access while accounting for local, regional, and global needs. The result is the development of two additional models for helping patients access the treatment they need:

• Shared contribution: local governments and Novartis share the cost of medication;
• Co-pay: Novartis and the patient share the cost of the drug based on a sliding scale, depending upon the patients’ ability to pay.

Each of these models is designed to enhance patient compliance and help patients to resume normal, healthy lives. Working with government and non-government organizations, foundations, and healthcare providers enables us to customize approaches to meet the needs of individual countries. We partner with patient groups in many developing countries to support their patient assistance efforts with information, education, and disease management programs.

Unlike many other drug donation programs, GIPAP is based on a “direct to patient” model, through which the medicines are delivered directly to patients by treating physicians.

“Our patient assistance programs are designed not only to ease the financial burden of treatment, but also to help patients adhere to their treatment regimen. We are very proud of the success we’ve had in developing partnerships with both public and private organizations that help us understand the needs of the patient and work with us toward a common goal: offering the best possible cancer care to patients in need.”

--Michele Galen, Head Global Oncology Affairs, Novartis Oncology

The Access Program Grows

This year, we are expanding our patient access programs to include TIPAP, the Tasigna^® International Patient Access Program. Tasigna is a next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor designed to meet the needs of the few adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic or accelerated phases who either cannot tolerate, do not respond, or develop resistance to, Glivec.

TIPAP will be introduced in countries where Tasigna is approved for marketing, GIPAP is active, and there is no generic version of Tasigna available. Designed to be consistent with the parameters developed for GIPAP, the program will utilize the Shared Contribution and Co-pay models in countries in which they are currently in place for Glivec.

Partnerships Are Key to Success

Novartis partners with The Max Foundation to ensure independence in evaluation and approval of eligible patients for GIPAP and TIPAP. In most countries in which Novartis has no representation, the Company partners with Axios International, and in China we partner with the China Charity Federation. By partnering with governments and other third parties in flexible patient access programs, we believe we can broaden our public-private partnership-based approach while enabling governments and payors, including patients, to participate in the delivery of healthcare.

For more details about GIPAP and TIPAP, or to apply for assistance, visit the Max Foundation.