Stephanie Rist, Minister of Health, Families, Autonomy and Persons with Disabilities, France, shared on LinkedIn:
“I want to reassure patients treated with Zoladex that they will have access to a therapeutic solution to allow them to be treated.
The AstraZeneca laboratory, which markets this drug in France in particular in the treatment of certain breast and prostate cancers, has asked for its withdrawal from reimbursement for economic and industrial reasons.
Before making any decisions, we made sure of one essential point: the existence of other treatments to guarantee the continuity of patient care.
The French National Authority for Health, after analysing data from the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines, has confirmed the existence of reimbursed therapeutic alternatives that are just as effective.
It is on this basis that the laboratory’s request was accepted.
But changing treatment obviously does not happen overnight. A period of several months has therefore been provided for before the deregistration comes into force, on December 15, 2026.
This time should allow each patient currently being treated by Zoladex to discuss with his or her doctor and, when necessary, to organize the transition to another treatment covered by the Health Insurance.
No patient should interrupt or modify their treatment alone. It is with your doctor that this transition must be prepared.
Our responsibility is clear: when a laboratory decides to withdraw a drug from reimbursement, we must ensure that patients have alternatives and that their care pathway remains secure. That’s what we’re doing for Zoladex.”
This can be interesting:
