Media Statement: Tuesday 4 February 2025

Omico Proposes a Transformative Solution for Affordable Precision Oncology as Routine Care for Rare Cancer

Omico, the not-for-profit genomics pioneer, has formally proposed a ‘first of its kind,’ transformative model that transitions groundbreaking ‘state of the art’ cancer treatments into affordable, routine clinical care for Australians diagnosed with rare and challenging cancers.

The Precision Oncology Health System Incubator (PrO-HSI) sets out a strategic investment pathway with multi-sector funding using established policy and infrastructure frameworks, to integrate advanced therapies into contemporary cancer care without overwhelming public resources amid a diminishing taxpayer base and ageing population.

“The model of care we want to establish has to be there in perpetuity. Ensuring high-need cancer communities have affordable, prompt access to innovative treatments—with us now and continuing to arrive—is a critical equity and innovation challenge that must be addressed,” states Professor David Thomas, Chief Science and Strategy Officer at Omico, and Director, Centre of Molecular Oncology, UNSW.

He also notes, “The issue of inequitable access and outcomes for rare cancer patients cannot be solved by focusing solely on ‘bridge’ funding for high-cost drugs without new approaches that address evidence gaps for rare cancers.”

“We’ve worked hard and consulted extensively to build a collaborative and transparent approach that works effectively within the HTA framework, addresses the need for affordability and sustainability, and focuses on the most critical unmet needs. It will extend the lives of those with the toughest cancers – people who must not be left behind,” he states.

Collaboration and Shared Funding

PrO-HSI centres around a shared funding model between the public and private sectors fostering collaboration between healthcare stakeholders and helping to unify Australia’s health ecosystems.

It incorporates an innovative data-driven approach which supports transparency and value-based resource allocation. Core elements include:-

• A shared 50:50 investment by Government and industry partners into the cost of genomic screening for 5000 rare cancer patients per year and data collection within the program.
• A pay-for-performance model to provide immediate access to tumour-agnostic treatments for ~750 patients per year, with government reimbursement limited to the 40% of patients expected to respond to treatment.
• ~1760 patients per year are expected to be matched to clinical trials, boosting R & D investment in Australia and providing access to advanced therapies funded by industry.

 

The estimated investment for implementation over 4 years is AUD $220 million, reflecting shared funding by government and industry.

Rare cancers, including cancers of unknown primary origin (CUP), make up 15% of all cancer diagnoses each year.¹   Due to challenges in diagnosis and treatment, patients with rare cancers are more likely to die compared to those with more common cancers, representing 1 in 5 cancer-related deaths.¹

“PrO-HSI represents a collaborative and truly smart and fair approach to integrating the latest cancer technologies into accessible treatment and care for patients. It leverages the essential, nationwide infrastructure established by Omico over the last 8 years, while continuing to forge a pathway for Australians to benefit from science and innovation today and into the future,” adds Ian Black, CEO Omico.

Components That Make It Workable

Core elements factored into PrO-HSI making it practical, manageable and sustainable include:-

• Delivers on HTA and Senate Inquiry Recommendations: PrO-HSI addresses 24 out of 50 recommendations in the Health Technology Assessment Methods Review, and 18 of 41 recommendations from the 2024 Senate Inquiry into rare cancers.
• Leverages and strengthens existing frameworks: PrO-HSI builds on what already exists – policy and legislative frameworks and a proven healthcare delivery infrastructure effectively created through initiatives like PrOSPeCT*.
• A contained structure: It derisks government investment in healthcare innovation. The approach caps government spending at AUD $30 million per year and utilises fixed funding with data-driven options for timely implementation, modification, or withdrawal, alongside a program-level evaluation for cost-effectiveness.
• A data driven approach: The collection of comprehensive real-world data is central to the process, together with the development of a health economic model using evidence that reduces uncertainty and evaluates the value of precision oncology for patients with high unmet needs.

“Important steps have already been made to forge this critical care model and establish advanced healthcare solutions into routine healthcare delivery. Omico is positioned through initiatives like PrOSPeCT to implement PrO-HSI in a highly effective and thorough way,” states Prof. Thomas.

“We have demonstrated that harnessing health innovation not only improves patient care but also generates significant gains in our innovative scientific and research economy. Since inception PrOSPeCT has supported 70+ local company-sponsored clinical trials resulting in 1,300 new jobs and $176 M AUD in direct foreign investment,” he notes.

“By addressing the unmet needs of rare cancers, PrO-HSI sets the stage for healthcare innovation that will benefit everyone. Paradoxically, solving the unique challenges of rare cancers will lead to better outcomes for all Australians with cancers,” concludes Professor Thomas.

*Precision Oncology Screening Platform Enabling Clinical Trials

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Issued on behalf of Omico by Cube. Contact: Anne-Marie Sparrow, 0417 421 560 / anne-marie@cube.com.au or Emma Norgrove, 0499 688 011 / emma@cube.com.au

Notes for editors:

Precision oncology involves using genomic technology to detect the unique genetic and molecular variations in a person’s cancer that drive its growth, in order to identify clinical trials of new targeted treatments that can specifically address those variations to improve patient outcomes.

Omico (www.omico.com.au) is a national, independent, not-for-profit organisation leading the use of precision oncology to turn the tide on cancer in Australia. The unique Omico network of researchers, clinicians, hospitals and industry partners is accelerating community access to the latest developments – comprehensive genomic profiling and next-generation treatments. Omico is a nation-wide organisation and is proud that every state and territory is represented by its Members and Participants, as follows: –

• Linear Clinical Research Limited (WA)
• Central Adelaide Local Health District (SA)
• Northern Territory of Australia (NT)
• Department of Health, The State of Tasmania (Tas)
• Garvan Institute of Medical Research (NSW)
• The University of Sydney represented by NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre (NSW)
• The Australian Capital Territory represented by ACT Health (ACT)
• Metro South Hospital and Health Services, represented by Princess Alexandra Hospital (QLD)
• Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute (VIC)

About PrOSPeCT (Precision Oncology Screening Platform Enabling Clinical Trials)
Omico’s PrOSPeCT is the largest oncology genomics initiative in Australia, enabled by public and private sector funding and partnerships totalling $185 M AUD, including $61.2M from the Australian Government. By the end of 2025, PrOSPeCT will have provided free comprehensive genomic profiling to more than 23,000 Australians with advanced, incurable or poor prognosis cancers and identified potential matches for patients to clinical trials with new targeted therapies.

PrOSPeCT is creating skills jobs, building Australia’s capabilities and infrastructure in cancer research and care, and strengthening our position as a premier destination for precision oncology trials.
PrOSPeCT builds on the success of Omico’s Molecular Screening and Therapeutics (MoST) study which recruited over 8,000 advanced cancer patients 2018-2023. MoST was supported by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and University of Sydney NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre.

PrOSPeCT foundation partners are Roche Australia, NCI (National Computations Infrastructure, Australian National University) and the Children’s Cancer Institute.
PrOSPeCT is also supported by Bayer Australia, Bioplatforms Australia, Elevation Oncology, George Clinical, Illumina Australia, Microba, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Praxis Australia, Quantium Health, Sonic Healthcare, Southern Star Research, and Syntro Health. For a full list of cancer treatment and research centres and partners in the Omico network, visit: https://www.omico.com.au/about-us/our-network-partners/

References:

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Cancer data in Australia. https:// www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-data-in-australia/contents/ about (2019, accessed 14/01/24).

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