Two ‘breakthrough’ breast cancer drugs are to be available on the NHS after the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) negotiated prices for the treatments.
The standard price for one cycle of palbociclib is £2,950 for a pack of 21 capsules. The list price for one cycle of ribociclib is also £2,950 but this is for 63 tablets. The company had first offered the drug at a price that was rejected by NICE, but they had later come to a “confidential agreement around the price”.
The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, described the drugs as among the “most important breakthroughs” for women with advanced cancer in the last two decades.
Around 8,000 people in England with previously untreatable breast cancer will now have access to palbociclib and ribociclib which have been shown to slow the progression of advanced cancer by at least 10 months, and can delay the need for chemotherapy.
The latest draft guidance from Nice said that women with oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer that is diagnosed after it has begun to spread will be eligible for palbociclib - also known as Ibrance. If they have gone through the menopause, they will be eligible for ribociclib - also known as Kisqali.
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