Bayer is the only company to win its appeal to NHS England in the latest round of Cancer Drugs Fund reviews.

The German firm’s Stivarga (regorafenib monohydrate) for the treatment of gastro-intestinal stromal tumours, will remain on the Fund, while Eisai’s breast cancer medicine Halaven (eribulin mesylate) and Lilly’s lung cancer drug Alimta (pemetrexed disodium heptahydrate) lost their appeals and will be dropped in July.

“We have been through a robust, evidence-based process to ensure the drugs available through the CDF continue to offer the best clinical benefit, getting the most for patients from every pound that we have,” says CDF chair Professor Peter Clark.

“These are difficult decisions, but if we don’t continue to prioritise the drugs that offer the best value, many people could miss out on promising, more effective treatments that are in the pipeline.”

The CDF's newly proposed standard operating procedure has been changed so that if there are any other proven treatments available for that particular cancer, regardless of indication, medicines could be delisted.

In January it was announced that 25 treatments would be de-listed from the Fund. NHS England said that removing the drugs from the list will create estimated savings of approximately £80 million “through a combination of negotiated price reductions and improved clinical effectiveness”.

For more details, go to: http://www.pharmafile.com/news/396435/bayer-wins-cancer-drugs-fund-appeal