A life-prolonging drug for patients with incurable breast cancer will not be 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” not to be able to recommend the drug because of its price.
However, the companies behind the drug have called on the NHS watchdog to “evolve” the way treatments are assessed.
The charity Breast Cancer Now said it was “devastated and angry” that patients were “caught in the middle of a stand-off over cost and a system that denies them precious hope”.
Life-prolonging drug for incurable breast cancer will not be available on the NHS due to 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 targeted treatment approved for patients with HER2-low breast cancer that cannot be surgically removed or 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Draft guidance published by Nice in September said it would not recommend the drug for NHS use in England due to uncertainties in the information provided.
In December, it suspended its evaluation during talks with pharmaceutical companies Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca. In March, it was announced that the talks had ended without an agreement on price and that the treatment had been blocked.
However, in May, Nice suspended publication of its final guidelines, which it said would aim to “allow all parties to reach a rapid commercial solution”. Helen Knight, Nice’s director of medicines evaluation, insisted that flexibility had been offered at a “fair price”, but the companies did not propose a new one. “We are deeply disappointed that we cannot recommend the use of Enhertu,” she said.
The charity Breast Cancer Now said it was “devastated and angry” that patients have been “caught in the middle of a standoff over cost and the system that denies them precious hope” (file image)
About 1,000 patients a year would have been eligible. Both companies said they were disappointed. “Nice wrongly classifies low-HER2 metastatic breast cancer as a medium-severity disease,” they said in a statement, pointing to other European countries, including Scotland, that already offer routine access. “We are calling on Nice to change the way treatments are assessed.”
Breast Cancer Now has previously said the drugs offer women six months extra life.
A spokesperson said: “We are devastated and angry that women’s lives will be cut short as a direct result.”
“This tragedy could have been avoided. These women do not have time to wait.”