The Cancer Drugs Fund (England)

[Rich66]

http://www.inpharm.com/news/171249/b...-next-advances

England’s Cancer Drugs Fund
The Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) was launched in England in April 2011 to help cancer patients receive drugs which have been either rejected by NICE, or are still awaiting appraisal.
So how is the Fund changing things?
In November, Breast Cancer Campaign looked at the fund’s success in helping more women gain access to breast cancer treatments. It found that in just over half of England’s Strategic Health Authorities, a total of at least 150 women had applications for drugs not routinely available on the NHS approved between April and June 2011.
Drugs accessed through the Fund to treat breast cancer include GSK’s Tyverb (lapatinib), Roche’s Avastin (bevacizumab) and AstraZeneca’s Faslodex (fulvestrant). Tyverb was the breast cancer drug most consistently accessed across SHAs.
Where evidence is available, it appears that 98% of all breast cancer applications were successful. However, as Palmieri points out that the CDF has not eliminated regional variations in access.
“There are three main agents patients can access through the fund [Tyverb, Avastin, Faslodex]. Some parts of England have all three of these drugs, others have two. So, access to some of the drugs on the CDF really depends on which part of England you live.”

[karen z]

Thanks for posting.