Weemen in England wi incurable breist cancer to get life-extendin drug on the NHS

Thoosands o weemen in England wi incurable breist cancer are to get access to a life-extendin drug on the NHS, efter negotiations anent the cost gaed the richt gait.

Aboot 1,000 weemen a year wi HER2-low advanced breist cancer will be able to get Enhertu frae Seturday, noo that ministers an the folk wha mak the drug hae struck a deal on the price.

Aboot ane in seven o the 60,000 new cases o breist cancer diagnosed ilka year in the UK are HER2-positive.

Clinical trials hae shown that Enhertu near-han doubled median progression-free survival compared wi standard chemotherapy, frae 5.1 months to 9.9 months. Median owerall survival amang fowk wha uised it wis 23.4 months, compared wi 16.8 months amang thaim no on it – a 6.6-month gain.

This is a mumentous day for thoosands o fowk wha will noo hae access to a drug that will gie thaim the chance to win precious time wi thair loved anes, said Claire Rowney, the chief executive o Breast Cancer Now.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) announced on Thursday that aboot 1,000 patients a year in England will be eligible to receive the treatment frae the NHS, followin its recommendation that the drug be uised routinely.

Nice, which advises the NHS on whether treatments represent value for money, had previously rejected Enhertu in July 2024 as ower expensive to justify, even though its effectiveness wis weel-proven.

Rowney hailed this milestone victory, which follows twa years o determined campaignin by the charity, cancer specialists an weemen wi that form o breist cancer.

The drug has been available syne December 2023 in Scotland, which is ane o 27 European countries that provide it to patients. Labour ministers, includin the health secretary, hae been workin in the backgrun for some time to add England to that list by brokering a deal on cost. Thair efforts were hindered by the drugmakers refusal to lower thair price.

The U-turn by Nice follows recent renewed negotiations betweent it, NHS England an the twa makers o Enhertu, the pharmaceutical firms AstraZeneca an Daiichi Sankyo. This resulted in what Nice called a commercial solution that means the drug is noo available in England for the first time.

The freedom that Nice gained in April to recommend that the NHS can spend up to £35,000 a year on a patients treatment, up frae a previous maximum o £30,000, proved crucial. It has agreed to pay mair for Enhertu than it was previously prepared to do. But it is no clear if the twa makers o the drug reciprocated by reducin the amount they had been seekin.

This is hugely positive news for weemen wi secondary breist cancer who will noo be offered this life-extendin treatment on the NHS, said Dr Anne Rigg, a consultant medical oncologist who is also NHS Englands national speciality adviser for chemotherapy.

Dr Catherine Elliott, Cancer Research UKs director o research, said: Enhertu is a tairgeted treatment that delivers chemotherapy directly to cancer cells. Clinical trial results show that, for fowk wi HER2-low advanced breist cancer whose disease has progressed followin treatment, it can help thaim live langer an delay thair cancer frae gettin waur compared wi standard chemotherapy.

Ministers in Wales an Northern Ireland are likely to implement the recommendation by Nice an make it available there too.

Yvette Cooper, the health secretary, said: Enhertu can be life-changin an this recommendation means NHS patients will finally be able to benefit frae it. It is a tribute to the campaigners an charities who never stopped pressin for this, an it follows the changes this government has made to the Nice framework as part o the UK-US pharmaceutical partnership so mair fowk can benefit frae cuttin-edge treatments.