10th Feb 10

Cancer drug knocked back due to cost

by Paul Russell

A new drug aimed at treating advanced stage kidney cancer has been rejected by the NHS for use, according to a health watchdog.

While clinical trials show that everolimus (Afinitor) is effective at treating the cancer, it is expensive and there is limited data on how much it can extend people’s lives, according to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

The drug is not a cure for kidney cancer, however its manufacturer Novartis said that patients usually are able to achieve a longer and better quality of life. It is suitable for patients who have failed on vascular endothelial growth factor-targeted therapy, a first line treatment for advanced renal cell carcinoma.

Research from pharmaceutical company Novartis shows that everolimus doubles the time without the tumour growing or death compared with a placebo (4.9 months, compared with 1.9 months). The drug costs £2,970 for 30 tablets, with an eight-week cycle costing about £5,544, according to figures released by NICE.

The pharmaceutical company offered a risk-sharing scheme to provide patients with the first treatment pack for free, followed by 5 per cent off further packs, however this was rejected.

NICE clinical and public health director, Professor Littlejohns said that the organisation was disappointed not to be able to recommend everolimus as a second line treatment option for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, but NHS resources are limited and NICE had to decide which treatments represent best value to the patients as well as the NHS.

"As a kidney cancer patient in the U.S.A., I am so fortunate that we have not adopted the UK's socialized medicine model. I am presently receiving one of the NICE unapproved drugs with great success. However, it appears our idiotic president Hussein Obama is hell-bent on forcing us into the quagmire."

Added by Rod Copeland on 10th Feb 10