Cancer charities in the UK have expressed their concerns over the changes to cancer drug fund.
Specifically, 15 charities said they are seriously worried about the new plans of giving the green light to ingenious cancer drugs for England's NHS.
The groups sent a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron that particularly pointed out how it would be a struggle for drugs to get approval. However, medicines regulator Andrew Dillon from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) says this is not true. In fact, drug approval would even be more hastened throughout Europe.
Changes Coming Up
The concerns of the charities blossomed from the planned alterations in the Cancer Drugs Fund, which is a specific fund set up for cancer drugs only. At present, this pays for new medicines such as breast cancer drug Kadcyla, which costs £90,000 ($130,368) for each patient. This drug is said to prolong the lives of patients by up to approximately six months.
While the fund was able to serve its purpose and provided benefits, it also faced its own struggles as it was overspent. Specifically, the costs rose from about £200 million ($289 million) in 2011 to approximately £340 million ($492 million) from 2015 to 2016.
Questions Rise
The new funding plans will commence in July. NICE will rate new medicines with a Yes, No or Maybe prior to them being available in the market.
Medicines that will receive a Yes rating will be offered in different NHS facilities. Those that will be given a Maybe rating may still be put under the Cancer Drugs Fund.
Questions arise, however, about the credibility of NICE. According to the letter sent to Cameron, the charities said they are concerned about the lack of modifications suggested to the bigger NICE process of deciding on the fate of cancer drugs.
"We urge you to intervene and commit to a review of the outdated mechanisms used to assess cancer medicines," the letter reads.
For Breast Cancer Now's Baroness Delyth Morgan, her deepest concern is seeing cancer patients missing out on innovative treatments that are available in other nations or in areas near the boundaries of UK. She adds that in the last seven years, NICE has not deemed a single breast cancer medicine cost-effective.
Dillon refutes this and says that since 1999, NICE's process has been regularly reviewed and that it is in fact, more generous than other systems.
