‘It’s a devastating blow’: Life-extending drug for patients with incurable breast cancer is ‘too costly for NHS’, watchdog rules
- Medicines watchdog provisionally rejects breast cancer fighting drug Trodelvy
- Decision is a ‘devastating blow’ for women with triple negative breast cancer
- It is too expensive to be cost-effective in England, the watchdog said
- A public consultation will be held until April 29 which might affect decision
- Trodelvy helps patients live longer compared to chemotherapy and was approved in Scotland last month
A ‘devastating blow’ has been dealt to hundreds of women with incurable breast cancer as the medicines watchdog provisionally rejected a vital drug.
Trodelvy helps patients live longer compared to chemotherapy and was approved in Scotland last month.
But it is too expensive to be cost-effective in England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said in draft guidance.
The drug costs £793 for a 180mg vial, but it would be cheaper if the NHS bought it through drugs company Gilead Sciences.
It is being considered for triple negative breast cancer cases – a more aggressive form tending to affect younger women – that have spread. About 650 women in England could benefit.
Nice said in draft guidance that Trodelvy is too expensive to be cost-effective in England, dealing a ‘devastating’ blow’ to the 650 women in England who suffer from triple negative breast cancer cases that have spread. Above: Stock photo
Breast Cancer Now chief executive Baroness Delyth Morgan said: ‘This decision is a devastating blow. These women, who already face poorer prognoses and limited treatment options, deserve the chance to benefit from this treatment option.’
Nice could change its mind after a public consultation which lasts until April 29.
Helen Knight, interim director of medicines evaluation at Nice, said: ‘Because sacituzumab govitecan is a highly effective treatment, and given the lack of treatment options for people with this type of breast cancer, we’re very disappointed that its price means we can’t recommend it for use in the NHS at this point.
Breast Cancer Now chief executive Baroness Delyth Morgan labelled the decision a ‘devastating blow’
‘We hope that the company will consider what it can do to enable NICE to approve a treatment that has the potential to give people with advanced triple negative breast cancer more time with their loved ones.’
Triple negative breast cancer can be more aggressive than other types of breast cancer and accounts for a quarter of all deaths from breast cancer, despite accounting for only one in five cases.
In a statement, Gilead said: ‘A second committee meeting has been scheduled for the 10th of May 2022 and Gilead will be working closely with Nice to address questions raised around cost-effectiveness estimates.
‘We believe we have put forward a strong, cost-effective case for the reimbursement of sacituzumab govitecan in England and are deeply concerned by the prospect of unnecessary delay, especially in a cancer where every day matters.’
Source: Read Full Article