Georgie Cooper is 46, lives in Melbourne, and has three teenagers. She has been living with metastatic breast cancer for eight years. In that time, she has done everything that can be done. And now her breast cancer has metastatised to her brain.
There is a drug that could help her and give her a better quality of life with the time she has left with her kids.
Tucatinib (brand name Tukysa) is the first, and currently the only medication for metastatic breast cancer shown to effectively cross the blood-brain barrier to treat and control tumours that most other therapies cannot reach.
Clinical trial results show it prolongs overall survival by an average of nine months for women with brain metastases and delays the development of new brain tumours. This helps women hold onto the things that matter most: clarity of mind, independence and hope.
For Georgie and her breast cancer, tucatinib is the only option she has left. But at its current cost of up to $70,000 for a full course of treatment, it’s something she can’t afford. Without access to tucatinib, Georgie has had to undergo high-risk surgery to dissect brain lesions, an invasive and dangerous option when a far safer, targeted alternative already exists.
She wants more time with her kids. She wants to keep living her day to day. She wants to keep driving her kids to school. And right now, an immediate listing on Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is the only way that becomes possible.
This is the story for Australian women with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer – but its impact reaches far beyond individuals, affecting families, communities and workplaces across the country. And we’re now seeing this play out across a number of health issues, endangering Australian womens’ access to critical medicines.
In the case of tucatinib, the drug received a positive recommendation from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) in November 2025. Australia’s independent expert panel concluded it should be made accessible on the PBS to the women who need it.
Normally, this would lead to a timely PBS listing and renewed hope for women with breast cancer. Instead, progress has stalled with Pfizer and the Australian Government both pointing fingers at each other, leaving vulnerable women uncertain about their options.
Australian women just like Georgie are currently faced with an impossible choice: either pay $70,000 or forgo a drug that could extend the precious time they have left with their family.
This is not just a delay, it is a breakdown in the system designed to deliver timely access to life-saving medicines.
And we are now seeing a troubling and escalating pattern: pharmaceutical companies pushing harder on price, and in some cases, walking away from negotiations altogether, with no clear leadership from the Australian Government to find a resolution. Vulnerable women and their families are caught in the crossfire.
Despite this, women in comparable health systems have benefited from this medicine for many years. Tucatinib has been integrated into routine clinical care through the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK since 2022, while Australian women still wait.
This is not an isolated case for tucatinib. It is a pattern. And the pattern is getting worse.
An analysis of all positive TGA approvals with recommended PBAC access from the start of 2021 to December 2025 found that Australians now wait an average of 726 days between Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approval and PBS listing. That’s an increase of 135 days since data compiled to April 2024. If left unaddressed, this pattern risks setting a dangerous precedent, where even medicines that have been rigorously assessed and recommended can stall indefinitely, undermining confidence in the PBS and delaying access across multiple diseases.
We must continue to advocate for the lives of the women impacted, especially when the system continues to let them down.
While this listing is finalised, Pfizer and the Australian Government need to implement an interim, fully funded compassionate access program for all clinically eligible women. No patient who meets the clinical criteria should be without access during this period.
These women are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for the treatment their government’s own expert panel has already said they should have. They are asking to watch their children grow up. To drive them to school and to sport while they still can.
Georgie Cooper is not a policy problem to be managed. She is a mother with an incurable diagnosis. The drug to help her exists. The evidence is clear. The recommendation has been made. What is missing is the urgency and accountability from those with the power to act before it’s too late.
To discuss treatment access, financial toxicity or navigating the cost of unsubsidised medicines, contact the Breast Cancer Network Australia Helpline on 1800 500 258. Visit bcna.org.au for dedicated metastatic breast cancer resources and support.