Half as many hospital trips: Europe backs a kinder rhythm for a cancer drug

For people being treated with Libtayo (cemiplimab) — a medicine that helps the immune system fight several cancers — treatment currently means a drip at the clinic every three weeks. Europe's medicines committee, the CHMP, has now backed a gentler rhythm: after the first 12 weeks, patients could switch to a larger dose every six weeks instead, and the standard infusion itself could shrink from 30 minutes to as little as 15. The European Commission makes the final decision in the coming months. If it agrees, the change would apply across all six of the drug's approved uses in the European Union — and give patients back weeks of life that would otherwise be spent in a treatment chair.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: policy reform