A cheap version of the groundbreaking breast cancer drug Herceptin has been approved by the World Health Organization, raising the possibility of lifesaving treatment for the first time for women in low-income countries.

Herceptin is the brand name of trastuzumab, a drug which by 2006 in the UK was the subject of a huge battle for access for the 20% of women with the type of cancer, called HER2+, that it targets. Trial results released at a conference in the United States fired up campaigners. There were marches in the streets, legal actions and an unprecedented political decision by the then UK health secretary Patricia Hewitt to pay for the drug regardless before any cost-effectiveness assessment had been completed.