A ground-breaking cancer treatment is within reach – but only if New Zealand acts now

At the Malaghan Institute, we’re leading that progress. We’ve developed New Zealand’s first CAR T-cell therapy, designed for our health system and people. We’ve successfully completed a phase 1 clinical trial and are well into phase 2 – treating more than 50 patients so far across New Zealand. This work is real, its tangible, and its already making a difference to people’s lives.

That’s ground-breaking in itself. But what we’re now trying to do is break new ground – by taking steps towards making CAR T-cell and other advanced therapies something New Zealanders can access through our public health system.

Success means CAR T-cell therapy being available equitably to New Zealanders who need it, regardless of where they live or what they earn. It means patients not having to travel overseas, at great personal cost, or be told a life-saving treatment exists but is out of reach. And it means building capability here – so this is the first of many advanced therapies we can deliver, not the last.

As a small country at the far end of the globe, we face a reality others do not. International pharmaceutical companies focus on large, established markets. For many overseas providers, New Zealand simply does not stack up. New Zealand currently has no established pathways for bringing innovative treatments like CAR T-cell therapy to its health system. We’ve seen companies try – and walk away because it’s too hard.

As an independent medical research charity, the Malaghan exists to take on exactly this kind of challenge. This is about developing cutting-edge treatments here in New Zealand while also putting in place the foundations for our health system to deliver more of these kinds of therapies in future.

That includes building the practical capability to deliver CAR T-cell therapy here in New Zealand, through guiding the regulatory processes, developing clinical expertise in safe CAR T-cell delivery, and establishing the manufacturing capability needed for CAR Tand similar cellular therapies. In doing so, we have built the expertise to sustain this treatment beyond a single trial.

What is at risk if we do not keep pushing forward now? Everything. Not just this therapy, but future treatments as well. If we fail to establish a pathway now, we make it harder – if not impossible – for the next breakthrough to follow.

But getting from a successful trial to a treatment embedded in the public health system is bigger than us.

That’s why we are asking New Zealanders for their support. Philanthropic funding is vital to completing this trial, analysing the data, and sustaining the programme. Our Trust Board has agreed to underwrite the work because of its importance and urgency, but if we can’t raise the full costs of the trial we will need to divert resources from other critical research. Without that support, momentum is lost – and patients miss out.

But money is not the only thing we need. We also need New Zealanders to stand behind this work. Public support matters because it builds momentum and signals that access to cutting-edge care here at home is something we value as a nation. It shows what is possible when we back our own people and science, and when we choose to invest in innovation that delivers real benefit for New Zealanders.

From government, we need clarity and pace. Alongside our partners BioOra, we need clear pathways for how a New Zealand-developed treatment moves through approval and into the public health system. This has never been done here before and the processes and settings are not yet fit for purpose. If CAR T-cell therapy is not treated as a priority, delays alone could cause this programme to falter. This is not about cutting corners. It is about acting with agency and urgency, so that innovation developed in New Zealand does not stall at the final hurdle.

From the health sector, we need continued partnership and readiness – clinicians, hospitals and health leaders working together so that when new treatments are ready, the system is ready too, and access for patients can continue beyond clinical trials.

What is at risk if we do not keep pushing forward now? Everything. Not just this therapy, but future treatments as well. If we fail to establish a pathway now, we make it harder – if not impossible – for the next breakthrough to follow.

At the heart of this is something very human. Better treatments mean people have more time with the ones they love. They mean less brutal side effects, more dignity and more hope. That is what drives us here at the Malaghan.

New Zealanders have already shown extraordinary belief in and support for this work. Now we need to finish the job. CAR T-cell therapy is within reach. Whether it becomes part of standard care – or another missed opportunity – depends on the choices we make and the actions we take now.

This Op-Ed was originally published on Stuff.