Speaking exclusively to PMLiVE, Burstow said the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), which since 2010 has paid nearly £1bn extra into the NHS to pay for new cancer medicines rejected by NICE, has not delivered results for either the industry or the NHS.

He said: “Really, we've gained no insight or learning from the dozens of drugs being funded within the scheme. The quid pro quo of paying for these treatments was that there was proper and systematic reporting and recording of real-world data, so that was then capable of being fed back into the NICE process for a final decision about whether that drug should, or should not, be available.

“But this hasn't happened - and [data not being collected] is the main criticism coming from the National Audit Office and it's clear to see that the CDF process has missed that opportunity.”

NICE has effectively been an observer of the Fund, with no information from its use coming back to the Institute. Burstow believes the watchdog should have been able to access these data to help it decide whether the oncology treatments it rejected were in fact worthy of gaining NHS funding.

For more details, go to: http://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/cancer_drugs_fund_a_missed_opportunity,_says_mp_677562