Thousands of women in England with incurable breast cancer will get access to a life-extending drug on the NHS after negotiations over its cost proved successful.
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negotiations → get → cost
About 1,000 women a year with HER2-low advanced breast cancer will be able to obtain Enhertu from Thursday after ministers and the drug’s makers struck a deal on its price.
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ministers → obtain → price
About one in seven of the 60,000 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed every year in the UK are HER2-positive.
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seven → diagnose → UK
Clinical trials have shown that Enhertu almost doubled median progression-free survival compared with normal chemotherapy, from 5.1 months to 9.9 months.
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Enhertu → show → months
Median overall survival among people who used it was 23.4 months, compared with 16.8 months among those not on it – a 6.6-month gain.
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who → use → it
“This is a momentous day for thousands of people who will now have access to a drug that will give them the opportunity to gain precious time with loved ones”, said Claire Rowney, the chief executive of Breast Cancer Now.
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Rowney → have → Cancer
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) announced on Thursday that about 1,000 patients a year in England will be eligible to receive the treatment from the NHS after it recommended it for routine use.
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it → announce → use
Nice, which advises the NHS on whether treatments represent value for money, had previously rejected Enhertu, in July 2024, as too expensive to justify, despite its proven effectiveness.
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treatments → advise → effectiveness
Rowney hailed “this milestone victory”, which follows two years of determined campaigning by the charity, cancer specialists and women with that form of breast cancer.
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which → hail → cancer
The drug has been available since December 2023 in Scotland, which is one of 27 European countries that provide it to patients.
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that → provide → patients
Labour ministers, including ex-health secretary Wes Streeting, have been working behind the scenes for some time to add England to that list by brokering a deal on cost.
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ministers → include → cost
Their efforts were hampered by the drugmakers’ refusal to lower their price.
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efforts → hamper → price
Nice’s U-turn follows recent renewed negotiations between it, NHS England and Enhertu’s two makers, the pharmaceutical firms AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo.
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turn → follow → it
They resulted in what Nice called “a commercial solution” that means the drug is now available in England for the first time.
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drug → result → time
The freedom that Nice gained in April to recommend that the NHS can spend up to £35,000 a year on a patient’s treatment, up from a previous maximum of £30,000, proved crucial.
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NHS → gain → 30,000
It has agreed to pay more for Enhertu than it was previously prepared to do.
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it → agree → Enhertu
But it is unclear if the drug’s two makers reciprocated by reducing the amount they had been seeking.
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they → reciprocate → amount
“This is hugely positive news for women with secondary breast cancer who will now be offered this life-extending treatment on the NHS,” said Dr Anne Rigg, a consultant medical oncologist who is also NHS England’s national speciality adviser for chemotherapy.
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who → offer → chemotherapy
Dr Catherine Elliott, Cancer Research UK’s director of research, said: “Enhertu is a targeted treatment that delivers chemotherapy directly to cancer cells.
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that → say → cells
“Clinical trial results show that, for people with HER2-low advanced breast cancer whose disease has progressed following treatment, it can help them live longer and delay their cancer from getting worse compared with standard chemotherapy.”
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them → show → chemotherapy
Ministers in Wales and Northern Ireland are likely to implement Nice’s recommendation and make it available there too.
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it → implement → recommendation
Yvette Cooper, the health secretary, said: “Enhertu can be life-changing and this recommendation means NHS patients will finally be able to benefit from it.
“
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patients → say → it
It is a tribute to the campaigners and charities who never stopped pressing for this, and it follows the changes this government has made to the Nice framework as part of the UK-US pharmaceutical partnership so more people can benefit from cutting-edge treatments.”
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people → stop → treatments
The Aporia
