Thousands of people could soon benefit from a life-extending blood cancer drug, after the NHS spending watchdog was forced to review its decision to stop funding the treatment.
The drug, IsaPD, has been shown to add a year to life for patients with an incurable form of blood cancer, myeloma, but in June it was decided it was not good value for money.
Earlier this year, The Mail on Sunday raised the alarm over the decision, which campaigners branded a “major coup”.
Now a major charity has won its appeal to have the watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), reassess its decision to reject the implementation of IsaPD in the Health Service.
A life-prolonging cancer drug could soon benefit thousands of people after a watchdog was forced to review its decision to stop offering the treatment because it was not value for money (photo by archive)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will reassess its decision to halt the rollout of IsaPD (file photo)
A 2021 study, published in the medical journal The Oncologist, found that the drug is twice as effective in improving patients’ life expectancy by one year compared to standard treatment. It is now available in Scotland after being approved by the Scottish Medical Consortium in 2021.
Shelagh McKinlay, director of research and advocacy at Myeloma UK, said: “We urge you to do the right thing and make this life-changing treatment permanently available on the NHS as soon as possible.”
More than 24,000 people in the UK have myeloma, and around 6,000 new diagnoses are made each year. Most patients are over 65 years old. Symptoms include persistent bone pain, tiredness, shortness of breath, and repeated infections.
IsaPD, which costs £2,000 a month, is a combination of isatuximab plus pomalidomide and dexamethasone, which stimulates the immune system to help it find cancer cells hiding in the body.