Where funds are going:

The primary use of these funds will be for the treatment itself, below is the indication of the costs advised by IOZK.

"The level of costs is due to the enormous personnel and technical effort involved: an individual medication is produced for each individual patient in strict compliance with the legal requirements of the German Medicines Act (AMG).

As the therapy is individual for each patient, the costs can vary considerably. Based on our experience, we can provide the following fees as a guide:

- between € 4,100 and € 6,000 for the laboratory tests required prior to treatment.

- for one IO-VAC® vaccination cycle between € 23,000 and € 28,000 (at least two vaccination cycles are necessary for one treatment).

- between € 6,000 and € 11,000 for a five-day treatment unit to induce immunogenic cell death (e.g. as a concomitant treatment during chemotherapy or as maintenance therapy after carrying out the IO-VAC® vaccination cycles)."

Treatment costs can be further outlined on the IOZK website: https://www.iozk.de/en/immunotherapy-against-cancer/therapy-costs/

We are considering doing up to 3 cycles with IOZK, this will be dependant on Mum's continuing to feel well, responsiveness to treatment, and costs. In addition to costs of treatment, we will have to keep in mind daily living costs while in Germany and ongoing costs in New Zealand while both Mum and I are not earning.

Other costs we are factoring is the maintenance treatments in New Zealand. IOZK will advise us what maintenance treatments will be beneficial from the testing they undergo. As these are different for each person, we are unsure yet what these may cost. Depending on responsiveness to treatment and Mums ability to travel, we may also look into future dendritic treatments.

In the event there are funds remaining, and for any reason in which treatment has stopped, the funds will be donated to Glioblastoma specific causes. This might include the Brain Tumour Support NZ group, or other causes/research that they may advise of.

Learn more about the Brain Tumour Support NZ here: https://www.braintumoursupport.org.nz/our-vision-mission-and-values

The treatments aren't cheap, and it's a plunge taking valuable time away from home to try out something experimental but ultimately we've settled on following our gut feelings and this feels to be the most promising treatment we can jump into.