7 July 2016 - Dozens of patients with leukaemia will now have an automatic right to the drug bosutinib rather than having to apply to the Cancer Drugs Fund for it.

NICE has approved bosutinib (Bosulif, Pfizer) which treats some people chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).

It means the drug will become available through normal NHS funding channels where as previously it was only available through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF).

Following the decision to reform the old CDF earlier this year, NICE began to reappraise all drugs currently in the CDF in April. Bosutinib is the first drug to be looked at through this rapid reconsideration process.

The current list price is £45,000 per patient per year, however the NHS has been offered a discount by Pfizer – the manufacturer.

Original NICE guidance looked at bosutinib in November 2013; the drug was not recommended for use on the NHS at that time as it was not considered cost effective. It was then made available to patients in the CDF.

As part of the reappraisal process this year, the manufacturer offered a further discount which, when considering there are limited treatment options for CML patients, meant that the independent committee could recommend bosutinib as cost effective.

View NICE news article