
Keytruda Gains NICE Approval While Kadcyla Fails
Cancer drug cost troubles in the UK prompt NHS to slash its list of approved-for-use oncology products.
Last week,
While agreeing the drug was effective in women with advanced breast cancer resistant to Herceptin, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) had rejected general use of the drug by NHS last year citing cost concerns. NICE was hopeful the manufacturer would be ready to renegotiate on the drug price, without luck. The Cancer Drugs Fund—established by the coalition government in the United Kingdom in 2011 to help fund for some of the newer, more expensive, but life-saving cancer drugs—has an annual budget of £200 million, but is expected to touch £380 million in 2015. The balance struck has been a combination of additional funding provided to the fund and shrinking the list of drugs covered by the NHS.
Meanwhile, Merck’s Keytruda became the first PD-1 inhibitor to receive
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