The UK risks falling behind the rest of the world in terms of access to cutting-edge cancer medicines. Challenges in the UK, including the way that the benefit of such medicines is calculated, mean that some people with late-stage breast cancer, for example, cannot access the same treatments as people in some other European countries.
Over the last ten years, many new medicines for secondary breast cancer have been approved for use in the UK. However, due to the way they are being assessed, some new treatments are now not being made available to UK patients.
Patient groups have said that the mechanism for making these medicines available is too restrictive, resulting in them not reaching the patients who need them.
The UK government uses experts to consider Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) when assessing the cost-effectiveness of a medicine, along with a ‘severity modifier’ which allows the NHS to spend a bit more on medicines for some very severe diseases, including some cancers. But the threshold used to assess whether something is value for money has not changed for nearly 25 years, meaning that in real terms it has fallen significantly. And the severity modifier sets the bar incredibly high for what will be considered a ‘severe’ disease. New, innovative medicines are finding it increasingly challenging to pass the test and be funded for NHS patients.
The ABPI is urging the UK government to reconsider its approach to assessing and investing in medicines. It’s time to make a choice that works for patients.
