Liver cancer drug too costly
Thursday November 19th, 2009
A cancer expert reacted with dismay today to a proposal not to approve a liver cancer drug for use in Britain.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence said sorafenib does not provide enough benefit to justify its "high cost".
The drug has been developed for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, prolonging the life of patients.
Manufacturers
had offered to supply every fourth pack free, slashing prices by a quarter.
But NICE says the best estimate is that the drug will cost £52,000
for every year of good quality life added for a patient.
The proposal to ban its use is contained in draft guidance issued by NICE.
NICE chief executive Andrew Dillon said: "We were disappointed not to have been able to recommend the use of sorafenib, but after carefully considering all the evidence, including the proposed patient access scheme, in which the manufacturer offered to provide every fourth pack free, sorafenib does not provide enough benefit to patients to justify its high cost.
"We have recently changed our approach to appraising high cost treatments which can extend life for terminally ill patients. This has meant that more of them are now being recommended. We looked at sorafenib in just the same way but the price being asked is simply too high to justify using NHS money which could be spent on better value cancer treatments."
But Professor Peter Johnson, chief clinician of Cancer Research UK, said:
"The results of a large international trial found that Sorafenib helps patients with liver cancer to live longer. This drug has an effect in people with advanced liver cancer who are unable to have surgery or any other treatments, so we are disappointed that the manufacturers have been unable to reach an agreement to enable NICE to recommend this drug.
"It is particularly frustrating that cancer patients in the UK are unable to access this drug when it is routinely available elsewhere in the world."
Tags: Cancer | Internal Medicine | UK News
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