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 The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) cost
watchdog, which had rejected Roche's breast cancer treatment Perjeta
in May, said a price discount now offered by the Swiss firm had
helped win it a green light.
Bristol's leukemia drug Sprycel was also recommended for routine use
after the U.S. company offered a bigger discount. Sprycel was
previously covered by the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), which was
overhauled earlier this year.
Out of nine CDF treatments that NICE has looked at so far, seven
have been cleared for general use. The remainder are in the process
of being reappraised.
"Sensible pricing and in some cases better data is helping to secure
access to important cancer medicines as they move out of the old
Cancer Drugs Fund," said NICE Chief Executive Andrew Dillon.
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Other international drugmakers including Novartis and Pfizer have
also offered increased discounts in recent months. The exact size of
all these discounts is commercially confidential.
Roche's Perjeta is designed for use in combination with chemotherapy
and Herceptin before breast cancer surgery, while Sprycel is used in
certain types of chronic myeloid leukemia.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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