Enhertu is a drug that can prolong the lives of more than a thousand patients with advanced breast cancer, but it isn’t available on the National Health Service (NHS) in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. The drug is available in Scotland as well as 19 other European countries. Jeannie Ambrose is one of the affected patients and believes that the drug should be made available on the NHS.
Diagnosed with breast cancer that had spread to her spine, pelvis, collarbone, and ribs, Ambrose was given three to five years to live in May 2019. Now, five and a half years later, the cancer has spread to her liver which can prove to be fatal. Ambrose states that she would like to continue living until her children leave home. However, she and about a thousand others cannot access Enhertu because it has not been approved for funding on the NHS in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
NICE, which is the only health assessment body that has denied the drug for this condition, believes that it is too expensive for the NHS to fund. The decision applies in England but Wales and Northern Ireland will follow the same guidance. Jeannie Ambrose and Claire Rowney, CEO of charity Breast Cancer Now, have criticized the decision and believe that it is “deeply unjust that patients are currently caught in a stand-off between NICE and the pharmaceutical companies.”
The drug, produced by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo, can offer patients with an incurable type of breast cancer an additional six months to live on average. According to the two companies, the effectiveness of Enhertu is not in dispute, but the conflict lies in whether or not the NHS should pay for it. NICE did not recommend the drug back in July based on the idea that it would not be a good value for taxpayers and urged the firms to offer a better price. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has also implied that the cost of the drug is prohibitive to its introduction on the NHS
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