A melanoma sufferer who thought he was on death's door before a remarkable new drug saved his life is overjoyed the government has listened to him and agreed to subsidise the expensive treatment.
The federal government on Sunday announced it will list the melanoma drug Keytruda on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Patients with a concession card will now pay $6.10 while others will pay $37.70 per Keytruda prescription, which previously cost $150,000 a year.
Since 2013, former Melbourne lord mayor Ron Walker has worked tirelessly to get the new drug approved in Australia and included in the PBS.
In 2012, Mr Walker was told his melanoma cancer was spreading throughout his body.
The businessman held little hope he would survive the disease until he travelled to the United States and began receiving Keytruda as part of a clinical trial.
"I was a walking person who was going to die and with this drug I came back to life again," he said.
Professor Grant McArthur from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre says Keytruda is a revolutionary treatment.
"Keytruda is the most remarkable drug I've dealt with in my career," he told reporters.
The chair of the centre's melanoma and skin service unit says the new immune-based drug unlocks the power of the body's own immune system to attack and reject melanoma-based cancers.
The treatment is already benefiting more than 40 per cent of melanoma patients.
Almost 1500 Australians die from advanced melanoma a year.
Professor McArthur said Keytruda's development is a testament to the work being done in medical research.
"We've got to keep investing in medical research," he said.
Federal health minister Sussan Ley says the government, which is investing $57 million to subsidise Keytruda, will likely increase funding in the coming years given Australia's high cancer rates.
Keytruda will be listed on the PBS from September 1, although the pharmaceutical company behind it is pushing for the government to make it available from August.
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