NHS in UK delists 17 medications from Cancer Drugs Fund
NHS England has announced the de-listing of 17 expensive cancer medications from the Cancer Drugs Fund. NHS England said it had previously increased the amount of money available to the Fund but that it needed to take action to prevent costs running out of control, and that funds saved could be spent elsewhere in the NHS.
Medications that will no longer be funded include:
- Trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla) for advanced breast cancer
- Bevacizumab (Avastin) for advanced bowel and breast cancer
- Albumin-bound paclitaxel (Abraxane) for advanced pancreatic cancer
The drugs are due to be de-listed on 4 November 2015, but patients already receiving these treatments will not be affected. Also set for de-listing are Celgene's Revlimid (lenalidomide) and its successor Imnovid (pomalidomide), meaning that relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients in England will not be able to access these medicines on the publicly funded National Health Service from November 2015. Lenalidomide may still be accessed for patients who have received at least two prior therapies, Celgene said in a statement. In March, the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) rejected pomalidomide for treating multiple myeloma, on cost grounds.
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