Press release -
Janssen and NICE must continue negotiations until vital prostate cancer drug is made available – says Prostate Cancer UK
Today (Friday 15 August 2014) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) confirmed its refusal to let men with advanced prostate cancer have a drug which could extend life and delay their need for chemotherapy with its devastating side effects.
Abiraterone – a simple pill which men can take at home – has already been approved for men with advanced prostate cancer who have had chemotherapy. NICE was considering evidence submitted by the manufacturer Janssen that its use should be extended to those yet to have chemotherapy. This would allow potentially thousands of men in England and Wales to enjoy the improved quality of life that abiraterone can offer.
From April 2013 to March 2014, abiraterone pre-chemotherapy has been the second most requested drug on England’s Cancer Drugs Fund, suggesting clinicians and patients have great confidence in its benefits. Moreover, on 29 June 2014, former Health Minister Paul Burstow urged the Department of Health to intervene in the NICE process and call off the proposed restriction on this pre-chemotherapy use of abiraterone.
Owen Sharp, Chief Executive of Prostate Cancer UK said: “It’s a fiasco. This decision is a kick in the teeth for men with advanced prostate cancer. For many this presented a vital opportunity for extra time with loved ones and a chance to delay chemotherapy and the debilitating side effects which come with it.
“An inflexible NICE process plus the drug company’s inability to produce all the requested data has led to this being just the latest in a string of hugely disappointing rulings on prostate cancer drugs. Once again men in England will have to take their chances with the Cancer Drugs Fund, with men in Wales and Northern Ireland left with nowhere to turn.
“The current system is flawed. It is not fit for purpose and it is the very people it is supposed to serve who are bearing the brunt. This decision is unjust and it needs to be overturned so that men in desperate need can receive the most effective drugs, wherever they live. We urge Janssen and NICE to get their act together and do whatever is necessary to get abiraterone pre-chemotherapy across the line without delay.”
The Scottish Medicines Consortium is due to appraise the use of abiraterone pre-chemotherapy in early 2015.
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Topics
- Health Organisations
Categories
- prostate cancer
- abiraterone
- nice
For more information please contact Prostate Cancer UK’s Press Office on 0203 310 7101.
Notes to Editors:
- NICE appraised the use of abiraterone for treatment of metastatic hormone relapsed prostate cancer prior to chemotherapy on the NHS in England and Wales.
- This use of the drug was licensed in January 2013 and in February 2013 NICE announced that there would be a delay to the appraisal process to allow the manufacturer more time to conduct analysis of their results.
- The Scottish Medicines Consortium is yet to appraise this application of the drug.
- Abiraterone was approved for use on the NHS for the treatment of metastatic hormone relapsed prostate cancer previously treated with chemotherapy (a docetaxel-containing regime) in England and Wales in May 2012 and in Scotland in August 2012 after a campaign for access by Prostate Cancer UK.
- Abiraterone is currently available for use before chemotherapy in England on the Cancer Drugs Fund. From April 2013 to March 2014 3,023 notifications were recorded for abiraterone before chemotherapy which makes it the second highest of all the drugs available via the fund.
