Cancer drug 'too expensive for NHS'
A drug hailed as a breakthrough in extending the lives of men with late-stage prostate cancer is too expensive for use on the NHS, a watchdog said on Thursday.
"There is no set threshold cost per QALY (quality-adjusted life year) of drugs that meet the end of life criteria, but since the supplementary advice was introduced, the highest cost per QALY of a recommended drug has been £50,000 (for renal cell carcinoma). Therefore the £63,200 cost per QALY for abiraterone would still not be deemed a cost effective use of NHS resources," said a Nice statement.
"We hope Nice will now work with the drug manufacturer to reach a solution that will make the drug more widely available to patients with advanced prostate cancer.
"An estimated 10,500 men in the UK have advanced prostate cancer that has become resistant to standard hormone treatments.
"We have had much success in the past few years in developing new drugs for advanced prostate cancer.
"Five new drugs have been shown in phase III testing to significantly extend life for men with advanced prostate cancer, and the ICR helped develop four of these, including abiraterone which was discovered at the ICR.
"None of these drugs are yet routinely available on the NHS.
"With the real progress we are making towards personalised cancer medicine, it may now be time for a wider conversation about how we can make sure the right drugs are available for the right patients."