Women with breast cancer now have another funded drug treatment available. PHARMAC will be funding the drug Exemestane from the August 1.

Under a new agreement Exemestane will be fully funded without the need for a special authority approval and will be less expensive than some other treatments.

PHARMAC medical director Peter Moodie says it is slightly different from Herceptin. He says Herceptin is used in the initial treatment of breast cancer whereas this latest drug is used for some years after the original chemotherapy.

Doctor Moodie says Exemestane works by blocking the growth of hormone-dependent tumours by lowering the amount of estrogen in the body.