NICE rule out breast cancer drug over cost

A drug that can extend the lives of some women with an advanced form of breast cancer has been rejected for use by National Health Service because it is too expensive.

The high price of Kadcyla makes it “impossible” to recommend for widespread use in the health service, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said.

The drug, also known as trastuzumab emtansine, is used to treat breast cancer patients with HER2-positive breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. It is used when the cancer cannot be removed surgically and the patient has stopped responding to initial treatments.

It can offer these women a last hope, extending the lives of patients by about six months.

NICE chief executive Sir Andrew Dillon said: “We are very disappointed that Roche has decided not to offer its new treatment at a price that would enable it to be available for routine use in the NHS”.

“Although Roche proposed a discount to the full list price of Kadcyla, it made little difference to its value for money, leaving it well above the top of our specially extended range of cost effectiveness for cancer drugs.

“We are really disappointed that Roche were not able to demonstrate more flexibility to help us make a positive recommendation. The company is well aware that we could not have recommended Kadcyla at the price it proposed.”

Dr Jayson Dallas, general manager of Roche Products Limited, said: “Despite Roche offering a significant discount, we are once again disappointed that Nice has not shown any flexibility on access to Kadcyla.”

The drug is available in England through the Cancer Drugs Fund, but doctors must make special requests to access the treatment for their patients and are not able to offer it to them immediately, if at all. Patients in other parts of the UK do not have access to such a scheme.