NHS Starts Offering Immunotherapy Injection to Cancer Patients

The NHS in England is rolling out a treatment upgrade under which thousands of patients with cancer will now receive a one-minute injection of the immunotherapy pembrolizumab instead of having the drug administered via infusion as has been the case in the past. The jab slashes the administration time from hours to just a minute or two. 

Approximately 14,000 new cancer patients are enrolled on pembrolizumab immunotherapy infusions each year in England, and the majority of this patient population is expected to switch to the injectable form of the treatment. The drug is used in the treatment of 14 types of cancer, such as head and neck, lung, cervical and breast cancers. 

Before this injectable version, patients who needed pembrolizumab spent about two hours in hospital as the treatment was prepared and administered through a lengthy infusion. The injection reduces the required time from hours to just one or two minutes. 

Patients who receive the treatment in 3-week cycles will get a jab lasting one minute while those who receive the treatment in 6-week cycles will receive an injection lasting two minutes. This is a major reduction of the time required to not only prepare the medication but also administer it. The implications of this change are profound. 

The amount of time patients spend waiting at treatment centers will reduce in a big way, and clinicians will be freed to attend to more patients in a less demanding manner. Furthermore, patients that have been traveling long distances to access treatment will appreciate the reduced time since they will now quickly get in and out of the hospital. 

The previous way of administering the drug requiring an infusion was also costly in terms of preparation time and staff involvement in the lengthy infusion process. That time and the associated costs can now be saved and allocated to other core activities of serving more patients. For patients, it will now be easier to juggle their treatment and other commitments, such as work. This flexibility in how treatment is administered could increase the quality of life of the patients and improve adherence rates. 

For the NHS, the jab offers a chance to improve service delivery and manage the growing cancer burden in the country. The injection modernizes how cancer care is delivered in a way that doesn’t compromise the expected clinical benefits of the care provided. 

For companies like Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI) that are also engaged in the development of immunotherapies targeting different cancer types, the success of the pembrolizumab jab opens the door to commercializing therapies that can be administered rapidly in a cost-effective way. 

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