05.09.18
Deal struck for groundbreaking cancer treatment in ‘fastest funding approval in NHS history’
NHS England is to offer children a groundbreaking new cancer treatment after one of the fastest funding approvals in the history of the NHS.
The cutting-edge personalised treatment for a form of childhood leukaemia cured 40% of late-stage leukaemia sufferers in trials and will now be available just 10 days after the treatment was granted European approval.
NHS England’s commercial deal with a drug manufacturer is the first of its kind in Europe, helping deliver a rapidly expanding class of personalised cancer therapies available on the NHS.
The treatment costs around £282,000 per patient and there were fears that this would stop NICE permitting its use, with the therapy aiming to treat up to 30 patients in its first year.
But chief executive of NHS England Simon Stevens, who will announce the deal at Health Innovation Expo in Manchester today, said: “CAR-T therapy is a true game changer, and NHS cancer patients are now going to be amongst the first in the world to benefit.
“Today’s approval is proof-positive that, in our 70th year, the NHS is leading from the front on innovative new treatments.”
The treatment, known as CAR-T therapy, will be available to young people under the age of 25 who have B cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and could be rolled out in a matter of weeks.
Unlike other forms of treatment, CAR-T therapy is personalised for each patient and works by reprogramming the patient’s immune system to attack cancer cells.
Professor Charles Swanton, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, said: “It’s fantastic news for children and young people with this form of leukaemia that CAR-T cell therapy will be made available on the NHS, making them the first in Europe to have routine access to this exciting new type of immunotherapy.
“We applaud NHS England, NICE and the company for working together to make this immensely complex treatment available to patients quickly, through the Cancer Drugs Fund.”
The treatment is currently only available in Europe in clinical trials and was only approved by NICE last week.
Funding for the leukaemia treatment will be covered by the Cancer Drugs Fund. Hospitals in London, Manchester and Newcastle will be the first three to offer it.
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