Life-extending breast cancer drug too expensive for NHS

According to NICE guidelines, the drug, Kadcyla, will not be routinely offered to women in England and Wales through the NHS because it is still too expensive.

The drug is available through the Cancer Drugs Fund, but at a full price of £90,000 per patient, the cost is too high to extend access through the NHS.

Kadcyla is used to treat patients with HER2-positive breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body and can’t be removed surgically, and it can add about six months of life to women with incurable disease.

A significant price reduction was recently agreed between the manufacturer of the drug Roche and NHS England in order to keep the availability of the drug through the Cancer Drugs Fund, but the manufacturer offered a smaller discount to NICE for regular use of the drug in England and Wales.

This only applies to new patients however, and any patient who is currently receiving the treatment can continue until it is considered appropriate to stop.

NICE chief executive, Sir Andrew Dillon, said “We recognise that Kadcyla has a place in treating some patients with advanced breast cancer, and we have been as flexible as we can in making our recommendation. However, the price that the manufacturer is asking the NHS to pay in the long term is too high.”

Roche has said “We need a unified approach, and, moving forward, it is imperative that we work together to build a pragmatic, flexible and sustainable system for assessing medicines that prioritises clinical value. Only then will we be able to ensure the best outcomes for people with cancer in the UK.

“This announcement comes less than two weeks after Kadcyla was retained on the Cancer Drugs Fund. Roche has demonstrated that, when given the opportunity to come to the table with all parties, we can come to an agreement and do the right thing for patients.”

Dr Caitlin Barrand from the Breast Cancer Now charity, said that the news was extremely disappointing.

“It’s time that the prime minister showed real leadership on this issue”, she said.

“People living with incurable cancer don’t have time to lose, and a fairer, more flexible system that enables access to the best treatments available on a routine UK-wide basis is long overdue.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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