Cancer Drugs Fund ‘papering over the cracks of a bigger issue’
pharmafile | October 29, 2014 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Cancer, Kadcyla, NICE, breast cancer, reform
Breakthrough Breast Cancer has raised concerns to the government this week over the ever-increasing price of new oncology medicines.
Over the past six weeks Breakthrough has been gathering support for its ‘Demand a Fair Price’ campaign, which is calling for fairer access to life-extending drugs across the UK, and has received thousands of registrants.
The charity says that drugs exist that can offer thousands of women living with incurable breast cancer extra time with their loved ones, free from many of the side effects associated with traditional cancer therapies.
But they argue that the ‘inflated prices’ being set for these treatments are creating a barrier that no regulatory system can overcome.
In England a £280 million a year Cancer Drugs Fund has been established to pay for new oncology drugs not recommended by NICE, or under appraisal by the watchdog.
But this funding is only guaranteed until March 2016 and the specialist commissioning budget, which stumps up the cash for the Fund, is currently struggling to meet demand and will soon begin to axe drugs from its approved list to help cut costs.
NICE held a six-month consultation on potential reforms to its processes this year, but in September said that issues around market access were too big to be dealt with by changes to NICE’s system – leaving any major reform (and thus an increase in cancer drugs gaining access to the NHS) looking unlikely.
Three calls to action were laid out yesterday at the House of Commons as part of the Demand a Fair Price campaign, that in the short term is pushing for:
- Commitment from all political parties to extend the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) in England until the end of the next parliament
- All political parties to commit within their manifestos to finding a long-term, UK wide solution to the problem of lack of routine access to life-extending drugs by the end of the next parliament, working with the pharmaceutical industry and patient groups
- The Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies to introduce a similar system to the Cancer Drugs Fund to ensure that patients get access to the drugs they need.
The overall goal of the campaign is to ensure that all women have access to the breast cancer drugs they need – irrespective of where in the UK they live.
Chris Askew, chief executive of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, says: “The Cancer Drugs Fund was only supposed to be a temporary solution and, while it should remain until a workable alternative is found, it is merely papering over the cracks of a system which is no longer fit for purpose.
“The government has already made attempts to reform the system in England – a positive step forward – but this is a problem that will need long-term solution, not a series of sticking plasters. With no CDF in place, patients in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are being denied the drugs they need. If we are serious about beating cancer, this unacceptable situation must be addressed.
“Innovative, effective drugs sitting on the shelf are of no use to anybody, least of all patients. Whilst there will be no quick fix solution to this problem, the pharmaceutical industry will need to get serious about its pricing and whoever forms the next government will need to get a grip on the problem and take action to resolve it.
“Until we have a sustainable, UK-wide system in place, the future availability of the treatments that regulators are being continually forced to reject will remain uncertain.”
Dr Nicholas Turner is an academic consultant medical oncologist who specialises in the treatment of breast cancer, and team leader at the Breakthrough Toby Robins Breast Cancer Research Centre at the Institute of Cancer Research, London.
He says: “[New] drugs aren’t providing a cure, but they can give women living with incurable breast cancer months, and sometimes years, of good quality extra time with their loved ones, free from the side effects associated with less advanced treatments.
“Until the day comes when we know how to stop breast cancer from spreading and becoming incurable, we must find a way to make the drugs that offer the best hope for women and their families available to them on a consistent basis.”
Ben Adams
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