Posted by Michael Wonder on 22 Jan 2020
NHS patients denied new lung cancer drug after another NICE deadlock
22 January 2020 - Certain untreated lung cancer patients on England’s NHS will have to make do with older drugs after NICE ruled in final guidance that AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso (osimertinib) is not cost-effective in this use.
NICE has continued to reject Tagrisso in first line epidermal growth factor receptor mutation positive non-small cell lung cancer in adults, despite an appeal from AZ after rejection in draft guidance published in July.
The decision follows a four-year row between NICE, the NHS, and the US pharma Vertex, over the price of the cystic fibrosis drug Orkambi that was only recently resolved through a specialised pricing deal.
