Andrea Sloan has spent her life helping others every day, but now she needs our help in her fight against cancer, because BioMarin Pharmaceutical is refusing to give her the treatment that could save her life.

Andrea is a 45 year old attorney in Austin, Texas who serves as Executive Director of the Texas Advocacy Project — and organization which provides free legal services for low income victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Seven years ago, Andrea was diagnosed with stage 3c ovarian cancer. She has responded well to treatment in the past, but traditional therapies are failing with the cancer’s return. There is one drug that Andrea’s doctors believe offers significant promise.

Andrea’s physicians have found a drug, PARP inhibitor BMN 673 that is manufacturer by pharmaceutical company named BioMarin, that is designed to treat women who have a particular type of genetic ovarian and breast cancer called BRCA1. The drug is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but Andrea has received indication that the FDA will provide a waiver for her “compassionate use” of the drug if BioMarin gives her permission to use it.

BioMarin’s response to Andrea so far is that while the company does embrace “compassionate use” policies, they do not have one for the particular drug that could save Andrea’s life.

This precious and brilliant young attorney has been fighting cancer for seven years. This drug is her last chance. The FDA has approved her use, pending approval by BioMarin. My prayer group has been praying for Andrea, but now we need your support to ask BioMarin to do the right thing and show compassion for Andrea.

Here is a quote from BioMarin website:

Grants and Charitable Contributions

With four marketed products and a fully-integrated multinational organization in place, BioMarin provides innovative therapeutics to patients with serious unmet medical needs. BioMarin is committed to patients, families and physicians in providing rapid access to treatments, disease education, and support services.

As part of its commitment, BioMarin supports programs and activities that foster excellence in patient care and provide valuable scientific, medical, and educational information to the medical and scientific communities as well as patient advocacy organizations.