29.02.16
Two-thirds of cancer drugs could be lost under changes to fund – ABPI
Leading pharmaceutical representatives say that the decision to take away the heavily-criticised Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF’s) power to prescribe drugs without NICE’s approval could mean two-thirds of medicines will no longer be available.
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) warned that the proposed changes do not go far enough and would significantly set back patient care.
The announcement came following a Public Accounts Committee report which criticised the CDF for cutting across the work of NICE and mismanaging its funds to the point that costs grew by 138% in the period 2013-15.
Dr Paul Catchpole, value and access director at the ABPI, said he was disappointed by the decision and that NHS England “will continue to push ahead with largely unchanged proposals for a new Cancer Drugs Fund”.
“This carries the very real risk of significantly setting back patient access to cancer medicines, now and for the foreseeable future,” he said.
"If cancer medicines go through more or less exactly the same NICE appraisal process that was in place five years ago - which necessitated the setting up of the CDF in the first place - we will largely get the same answers as before - the majority of medicines will be turned down. Turning the clock back five years just doesn't make sense; substantial change is needed to the way that NICE appraisers cancer medicines to prevent this.
"We also need less draconian financial controls. It is unreasonable for companies to be expected to underwrite 100% of the financial risk in managing the CDF budget, something which is outside of their individual control.
"Without substantial changes, the ABPI estimates that under the proposals two thirds of existing CDF medicines are likely to no longer be available to NHS patients by the end of the year. This is in addition to patients who are already waiting for access to around 10 new cancer medicines which have been launched since the Fund was closed to new applications in May 2015.”
Last year the financially-strapped CDF stopped funding 25 treatments for cancer, a decision that led the ABPI to call the CDF “a sticking plaster”.
The National Audit Office warned in September that the CDF was no longer sustainable.