16.05.16
Charities warn Cancer Drugs Fund treatment could mean medicines taken off market
Fewer treatments will be available for cancer patients after the work of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) is taken over by NICE, cancer charities have warned.
In a letter to prime minister David Cameron, published in the Daily Telegraph today, the chief executives of 15 cancer charities said that the new fund does not update the NICE clinical guidelines introduced in 1999.
The new fund was introduced after the Public Accounts Committee criticised the CDF for mismanaging its funds, but the charities warn that under the new one, many effective treatments will struggle to gain approval.
The letter tells the prime minister: “At this late stage, we urge you to intervene and commit to a review of the outdated mechanisms used to assess cancer medicines.”
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry has said that the amount of drugs lost under the changes could be as much as two-thirds.
But Sir Andrew Dillon, chief executive of NICE, said: “I understand and support the ambition the charities have for access to effective cancer medicines.
"Our approach to assessing the value of new cancer drugs has been reviewed on a regular basis since we were set up in 1999 and is already more generous than for other conditions.
“It's now up to [pharmaceutical] companies to show that they recognise the challenges as well as the opportunities their new drugs present to the NHS, and show the same flexibility on cost to NICE as they have been showing to NHS England in its recent negotiations with companies for drugs already in the Cancer Drugs Fund.”
The NHS published its strategy for improving cancer treatment last week.
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