Posted by Michael Wonder on 04 May 2017
Pfizer to give out breast cancer drug free while awaiting NHS decision
4 May 2017 - Pharmaceutical firm says it will offer palbociclib to patients while regulator rules on whether it should be available on NHS.
A drug described as one of the most important advances in treating breast cancer in the past 20 years is to be given to women in the UK for free while the medicines regulator decides whether it should be available on the NHS.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s provisional decision in February that palbociclib should not be routinely funded on the NHS in England was decried by patients but its final appraisal has been paused for the drug manufacturer Pfizer to present further clinical data.
In the meantime, Pfizer has said it will make palbociclib available free of charge. The drug in combination with another can stall the growth of the cancer for about 10 months in comparison with existing treatments.
