Medicare officials confirmed Thursday that the program will cover the $93,000 price tag for prostate cancer drug Provenge, an innovative therapy that typically gives men suffering from an incurable stage of the disease an extra four months to live.

The decision from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid essentially reiterates an earlier proposed ruling that the biotech drug, made by Dendreon Corp., is a “reasonable and necessary” medicine. As expected, the government will cover the cost for men who meet the drug’s approved criteria: those with prostate disease that has spread throughout the body and has not responded to hormone therapy or radiation. The government will not pay for alternate, or so called “off-label,” use.
» Read more: Medicare confirms payment for prostate cancer drug