UK LAGGING BEHIND EU IN CANCER DRUG ACCESS

A new report submitted to the European Parliament has claimed that although the UK is one of the leading countries in the European Union (EU) in terms of cancer research funding, it falls behind other EU countries in terms of patient access to new cancer treatments.

The findings come after a recent study into sales of 56 anti-cancer drugs in 19 EU countries. The UK came bottom of the table for sales of Genetech's breakthrough cancer treatment Herceptin (trastuzumab), as well as Roche's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma treatment MabThera (rituximab) and bowel cancer drug Xeloda (capecitabine).

The report goes on to claim that part of the problem lies with UK drug regulator NICE, which needs to drastically speed up appraisal times. Currently, it takes 18 months for a product approved by the European Medicines Agency to even reach consideration by NICE. It then takes, on average, an extra 14 months for NICE to complete its own approval process.

Despite the fact that recent government cuts have forced NICE to close one of its three appraisal committees, the body has proposed implementing a new fast-track process, which should see appraisal times halved. However, companies fear that the new streamlined system could see products with less data behind them being refused approval, with NICE admitting that the process will be a "balancing act."