A Herceptin-style drug that can offer some women with advanced breast cancer nearly six months of extra life has been turned down for use in the UK’s [b]National Health System[/b] because of cost, reports [s]The Guardian[/s]. In draft guidance now open to consultation, the [b]National Institute for Health Care and Excellence[/b] (NICE) criticises manufacturers, [b]Roche[/b], who are asking for more than £90,000 per patient, saying that the drug does not work well enough to justify the price tag and called on Roche to rethink. But the decision was criticised by Roche and some breast cancer charities. The drug, called [b]Kadcyla[/b] (generic name trastuzumab emtansine), is already being paid for through the dedicated Cancer Drugs Fund set up by the government.
[link url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/23/breast-cancer-drug-turned-down-nhs-use-high-cost]Full report in The Guardian[/link]
[link url=http://guidance.nice.org.uk/TAG/350]NICE guidance[/link]