Bristol-Myers Squibb: Please Help Save A Cancer Patient Dad!

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Old Picture of Darcy & his family
Darcy Doherty, a 48 year old father of three, is seeking compassionate access to a new cancer treatment in a desperate attempt to extend his life. The experimental drug, BMS-936558, is in Phase 1 clinical trails at research locations in Canada and the U.S.A. In April, Doherty was excluded from one because of new marginal cancer growth in his brain.
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Time is running out for Darcy and the family has no other hope. Without this treatment he will die. A new drug, BMS-936558, manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb, similar to an earlier immunotherapy treatment he received ipilimumab (Yervoy®), produced a fantastic response increasing his life by years. Bristol-Myers Squibb is refusing access to the new drug, the one that his doctor says could save his life. If BMS would just grant compassionate access to this drug as they have done before, the family will have more precious time together.

To help Darcy, get access to this new drug, please visit www.facebook.com/HelpSaveDarcyNow or sign this online petition at www.Change.org/HelpSaveDarcy and contact Bristol-Myers Squibb at (212) 546-4000. #helpsavedarcy

“Darcy has led a brave and heroic struggle against this disease for the past five years,” explains his wife, Rebecca Cumming. “And now, the kids and I are devastated that a promising drug is out there and proving successful in patients with Darcy’s diagnosis, yet we can’t get to it.”

Doherty’s oncologist, Dr. David Hogg, Attending Physician at Princess Margaret Hospital and Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, believes that his patient can benefit from this new treatment. “Mr. Doherty had a fantastic response to the then-experimental immunotherapy drug, ipilimumab (Yervoy®), in 2007. That drug has given him four years of life, and I believe that he may experience a similar benefit from BMS-936558.”

The manufacturer of Yervoy, Bristol-Myers Squibb whose Canadian head office is in Montréal, also produces this new drug. The company has repeatedly blocked Cumming’s appeals for access over the past weeks explaining that it does not have a compassionate use program.

“I respect the company’s trial criteria,” Cumming states, “but cannot accept that we are not able to get compassionate access to this potentially life-saving drug. We’ve all come so far and worked too hard to be prevented from this new treatment.”
In Canada, patients with serious or life-threatening conditions can access experimental drugs on a compassionate basis before they are approved by the government. Health Canada’s Special Access Program allows a physician to administer trial drugs when conventional therapies have failed, are unsuitable or not available.

Dr. Michael Giordano, Head of Development, Oncology and Immunosciences at Bristol-Myers Squibb explains his company’s position. “We strive to develop promising drugs as quickly as feasible while remaining mindful of protecting patient safety. [This drug] currently does not have an established benefit/risk profile, given [its] limited experience in humans. We are not in a position to allow [its] use outside of a highly controlled trial.”

For a devastated and discouraged Cumming, “it doesn't add up. Darcy has absolutely nothing to lose.” Given his previous success with immunotherapy she declares, “We see no risks at this point; without this drug he will die.”