Clinical trials suggest it can triple life expectancy for people with the cancer from around six more months to 18 months.
“Now other families can get that help too,” said Huw’s dad Gareth.
“It is very important for the patients suffering from this cancer that this is available.
“The drug brought a glimmer of hope to Huw.”
It was in September 2024 that Huw, from Llanuwchllyn, Gwynedd, first realised something was wrong while swimming in Llyn Tegid.
He felt a pain in his abdomen, so visited a doctor, with tests confirming he had cholangiocarcinoma.
By this point it had spread to his lungs.
“Huw was extremely lucky to be able to get Zanidatamab through doctors in London,” Gareth added.
“When Huw was diagnosed the drug wasn’t available on the health service, we had to find it ourselves.
“The drug made a massive difference to him, his tumours shrunk and his symptoms improved almost immediately.”
It allowed him precious time with wife Cadi and Idris during his first months.
While he knew it wouldn’t cure him, the drug gave Huw something to be positive about and enabled him to look a short distance into the future with hope, according to his dad.
“Hope is the best way of describing it,” Gareth added.
“Huw had so much hope and he was looking forward to getting better and that’s what kept him going for so long.”
Huw died in February, 17 months after being diagnosed.