The World Health Organization launched its first biosimilar medicine to treat breast cancer. The WHO intends to make the expensive, life-saving treatment affordable for women all over the world Highlights WHO launched a biosimilar medicine “Trastuzumab”in order to treat breast cancer. It is an antibody that shows high efficacy in curing early stages of breast cancers. It was included in the WHO Essential Medicines List in 2015. Essential Medicines of WHO The Essential Medicines according to the WHO, are the medicines that satisfy priority health care needs. It was launched in 1977 and updated once in two years. The list includes medicines for both adult and children. The current list was published in April 2019. Significance In women, breast cancers are the most common form of cancers. Around 2.1 million women are affected by breast cancers (2018 UN data).
