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Two South Coast Organizations Partner To Give Cancer Medication To Patients In Developing Countries

Two South Coast organizations are working together to give much needed cancer medication to low-income patients in developing countries.

Pharmaceutical company Amgen based in Thousand Oaks is donating $93 million worth of cancer medicine that humanitarian aid nonprofit Direct Relief based in Santa Barbara is distributing to 18 developing countries including Armenia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Honduras and India.

"Hugely important not only because of the benefits of the drugs themselves that will now be extended to people who would not have had the benefit, but more than that, just a very strong signal that extending the benefit to these new, advanced therapies is possible, even in low-income or low-resourced settings," says Thomas Tighe, who is president and CEO of Direct Relief.

About 7,400 low-income patients are expected to benefit.