After a discount agreement with the manufacturer, a breast cancer drug has been approved for routine NHS use in England.A charity described the decision as "fantastic news" for thousands of women. It stated that the drug would provide precious additional months of treatment for very sick people.Draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended that patients be given abemaciclib, sold under the name Verzenios by Eli Lilly and fulvestrant to treat breast cancer that has spread to other areas of the body.Nice rejected it as a routine use in England in February because it was not cost-effective. However, the decision was reversed after a better patient access program from Nice and price changes.It usually costs 2,950 for 56 150mg-tablets (excl. VAT), but the company has agreed to a discount for NHS. Terms of the agreement remain confidential.Delyth Morgan, chief executive of Breast Cancer Now said that it was great news for thousands of women living with secondary, hormone receptor negative, incurable breast cancer.She said: After its worrying provisional rejection in Nice earlier this year this decision now secures it future use on NHS. This decision brings hope to eligible women who may see this combination treatment offer them precious additional months before their disease progresses, and could even extend their lives.Morgan stated that a daily dose of a pill twice daily can be used to manage side effects associated with chemotherapy. It also delays the need for treatment and makes it easier to endure the debilitating side effect.Abemaciclib, also known as a CDK4/6 inhibitor, is a drug. It inhibits the growth of cancer cells by blocking proteins.Nice concluded that it had a need to find an alternative CDK4/6 inhibitor. This is testimony to the many women who have shared their experiences with Breast Cancer Now and supported our efforts to reverse the provisional rejection Morgan stated.Abemaciclib can be obtained through the Cancer Drugs Fund. This is an alternative to CDK4/6 inhibitors.Even though there was uncertainty about the cost-effectiveness and clinical estimates, the committee still concluded that it was a cost-effective way to use NHS resources.Another drug that was accepted after being rejected initially due to the discounts offered includes a third-line triple therapy for multiple myeloma patients in England. After a confidential discount was reached between NHS England, Amgen and the drug manufacturer, the therapy has been recommended.Nice recommended that the drug liraglutide be made available to obese patients on the NHS, after a confidential discount was agreed with Novo Nordisk.Meindert Boysen is the director of the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation in Nice. He said that advanced breast cancer is incurable and treatment should be able to prevent it from getting worse or extend its survival. Patients praised CDK4/6 inhibitors such as abemaciclib because they delay their cancer from getting worse, which can help delay or even avoid chemotherapy.The patient experts also informed the committee that everolimus plus exemestane, which is the standard treatment at this stage, was not well tolerated. It is only used for a limited number of patients because it has similar side effects to chemotherapy.Nice will issue its final guidance regarding abemaciclib given in combination with fulvestrant to treat hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic cancers in September.
