A cancer sufferer who feared he would die before Christmas because he was refused a potentially life-saving drug has been given a reprieve at the 11th hour.

Malcolm Cole, of Fulbrook, near Burford, thought he had been given a death sentence by the South West Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust when it decided he should not be prescribed the drug Velcade earlier this year to fight his multiple myeloma.

Velcade is the only licensed drug available for relapsed multiple myeloma patients and is prescribed in every other first world country.

But Nice, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, recommended it should not be availabe on the NHS.

Now, Janssen-Cilag - the pharmaceutical company which produces the drug - has given Mr Cole a lifeline by inviting him to participate in a Velcade trial.

The 68-year-old will now start a three-month course of treatment at London's Royal Marsden Hospital this week.

He said he was delighted he was getting the chance to take Velcade.

He said: "When I was told I had been accepted on to the trial the news almost came too late as my condition is beginning to deteriorate and you have to be fit enough to take the drug.

"But I'm keeping my fingers crossed I will be OK."

Mr Cole is still annoyed he was refused by the South West Oxfordshire trust.

He believes the decision not to give him Velcade - which costs £30,000 per treatment - was all down to money.

He added: "The Government made the trials for Velcade so stringent in order to cut costs so that the drug would not become available on the NHS.

"The politicians have said that these new drugs that are coming in are too expensive and the reason for that is that they have told the manufacturers they have to test them to the limit."

South West Oxfordshire PCT spokesman Alison Brumfit said: "We take recommendations from Nice, and if the drug is deemed to be clinically and cost effective then we make it available for our patients.

"We do have consistency across the county, and patients have the opportunity to appeal, but in this case that was not deemed appropriate."

Mr Cole will now undergo three cycles of two weeks on, two weeks off treatment at the Royal Marsden hospital. He will receive a combination of Velcade and two other drugs, as well as chemotherapy treatment to try to kill the infected cancer cells.

Multiple myeloma is a particularly aggressive type of cancer, which attacks white blood cells and reduces the body's immune system.

Patients can be in remission for some time if it is treated with chemotherapy. Mr Cole 's myeloma was detected early, but he was still initially given only 18 months to live.

Velcade has been developed using stem cell research and works by prevent myeloma cells re-producing.