Poll: Should costs come into consideration when approving lifesaving drugs?
A drug that can extend the lives of some women with an advanced form of breast cancer has been rejected for NHS use because it is too expensive.
The high price of Kadcyla makes it "impossible" to recommend for widespread use in the health service, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said.
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The drug, also known as trastuzumab emtansine, is used to treat breast cancer patients with HER2-positive breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. It is used when the cancer cannot be surgically removed and the patient has stopped responding to initial treatments.
It can offer these women a last hope, extending the lives of patients by around six months.
But final draft guidance from Nice says that the drug, which costs around £90,000 per patient at its full price, it too expensive to recommend for widespread use in the health service.
The NHS financial watchdog has become embroiled in a row with manufacturers of the drug, saying that it is "very disappointed that Roche has decided not to offer its new treatment at a price that would enable it to be available for routine use in the NHS."
Roche said that it had offered to cut the price of the drug and will be appealing Nice's decision.
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