Cancer Drugs Fund should not be used across the UK
pharmafile | March 7, 2012 | News story | Sales and Marketing | CDF, Janssen, NICE, Zytiga, myloma, prostate
The Prostate Cancer Charity has said that extending England’s Cancer Drugs Fund to the UK will not solve the issue of access to new oncology meds.
The £650 million Fund runs from October 2010 until April 2013, and aims to make available new cancer drugs that are not recommended by NICE, or are undergoing an appraisal.
But as the Fund is only available in England, this had lead to a number of patient groups – the Rarer Cancers Forum chief among them – to argue that it should also be available in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
But not all patients groups hold this conviction. Responding to a query from Pharmafocus, Owen Sharp, chief executive of the Prostate Cancer Charity said: “Whilst The Cancer Drugs Fund has improved access to cancer drugs for many people across England it is not a permanent solution, so extending it across the UK will not solve the problem.”
He added: “The UK needs a fairer and more equitable system in place to make sure that cancer drugs reach those who need them most – regardless of where they live.”
Their new position on the Fund comes after recent draft guidance from NICE recommended the rejection of Janssen’s prostate cancer pill Zytiga (abiraterone), and Sanofi’s Jevtana (cabazitaxel).
But instead of wanting to use additional funding to help patients access these drugs, the charity would rather see the two firms lower their prices.
Sharp said: “We need to see the pharmaceutical companies working with NICE to agree fairer prices for drugs like abiraterone, so that they reach the people who need them.”
This echoes a recent suggestion by Eric Low, the chief executive of Myeloma UK, who said that the Fund allows pharma to get away with having drugs that were not cost effective.
He too believes that the Fund should not be used across the UK, telling the BBC: “What we should be doing is tightening things up to force drug companies […] to price drugs fairly.”
Ben Adams
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