The Taoiseach has told the Dáil that the cost of a drug used to treat patients with skin cancer will be covered for patients.
A number of cases have been highlighted recently of patients seeking access to Ipilimumab, which is used to treat metastatic melanoma.
The drug costs €85,000 per person and is not currently reimbursed by the Health Service Executive or private health insurers.
The issue was raised recently by cancer specialist Senator John Crown who criticised the fact that the drug had not received a positive cost-effective approval by the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics.
Enda Kenny said today that the Minister for Health was negotiating the cost of the drug with the makers and was confident of securing a conclusion soon.
The drug is made by Bristol Myers Squibb.
The Taoiseach said Ireland will continue to be at the forefront on breakthrough drugs.
He added that he understood the interest in the drug, and hoped that a conclusion will come pretty quickly.
Mr Kenny was responding to a question from Fianna Fáil's Micheál Martin who asked how many patients have to die before the drug was sanctioned.
Mr Martin said Ipilimumab is seen to be twice as effective as the nearest competitive drug, yet it is not funded by the Minister for Health.
In September 2011, the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics said it could not recommend the reimbursement of Ipilimumab for the treatment of advanced melanoma in adults “at the price submitted” by the makers.
The average cost per treatment was €85,000, which covered four cycles of the drug.
It estimated that the gross cost of the drug here would range from €4.8m to €7.4m this year, at that price.
The Department of Health has said that a final decision on the reimbursement of Ipilmumab has not been made.
It said that both the National Cancer Control Programme and the HSE Drugs Committee have recommended that the drug can be approved for use.
It says that the makers have already offered certain reductions on cost and discussions are continuing.
