A life-extending drug for incurable breast cancer will not be made available on the NHS because of its cost.
Campaigners reacted with outrage to the decision on trastuzumab deruxtecan, sold under the brand name Enhertu, saying it was denying patients ‘precious hope’.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said it was ‘deeply disappointed’ it was unable to recommend the drug due to pricing.
However the companies behind the drug called for the NHS watchdog to ‘evolve’ the way treatments are assessed.
The charity Breast Cancer Now said it was ‘devastated and angry’ that patients have been ‘caught in the middle of a stand-off about cost and the system which is denying them precious hope’.
A life-extending drug for incurable breast cancer will not be made available on the NHS because of its cost
Campaigners reacted with outrage to the decision on trastuzumab deruxtecan, sold under the brand name Enhertu, saying it was denying patients ‘precious hope’
Enhertu is the first licensed targeted treatment for patients with HER2-low breast cancer that cannot be removed surgically or that has spread, also known as metastatic breast cancer.
Draft guidance published by Nice in September said it would not recommend the drug for NHS use in England due to uncertainties in the information provided.
It then paused its appraisal in December during talks with pharmaceutical companies Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca. In March, it was announced talks concluded without a price agreement in place and treatment was blocked.
However, in May, Nice paused publication of its final guidance, which it said would aim ‘to allow all parties to reach a rapid commercial solution’. Helen Knight, Nice director of medicines evaluation, insisted flexibility had been offered at a ‘fair price’ but the firms did not put forward a new one. ‘We are deeply disappointed that we are unable to recommend Enhertu for use,’ she said.
The charity Breast Cancer Now said it was ‘devastated and angry’ that patients have been ‘caught in the middle of a stand-off about cost and the system which is denying them precious hope’ (file image)
About 1,000 patients a year would have been eligible. Both firms said they were disappointed. ‘Nice misclassifies HER2-low metastatic breast cancer as a medium severity disease,’ they said in a statement, pointing to other European countries, including Scotland, already delivering routine access. ‘We are calling on Nice to evolve the way treatments are assessed.’
Breast Cancer Now has previously stated that the drugs offer women six more months to live.
A spokesman said: ‘We are both devastated and angry that women’s lives will be shortened as a direct result.
‘This was an avoidable tragedy. These women don’t have time to wait.’