The new Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) opened for new treatments last Friday, with four new cancer drugs made immediately available to patients, potentially benefiting 4,500 patients and speeding up access by up to four months.
Since its introduction in April 2011, the CDF has helped nearly 100,000 people with cancer access treatments not routinely available on the NHS. However, it has been closed to new drugs since October 2015.
Updates to its operation were decided and announced earlier this year following a full public consultation and it opened to new treatments from Friday 29th July 2016. The updates to the CDF were in line with the recommendation of the independent Cancer Taskforce report, which called for urgent reform to put the CDF on a more sustainable footing.
The NICE appraisal process will now start much earlier for newly referred drugs, with the aim of publishing draft guidance before drugs receive their licence, and then final guidance to be issued within 90 days of that. Patients can also benefit from new cancer drugs faster with the option of interim funding for those drugs that have received either a draft recommendation for routine commissioning or for use within the CDF.
New treatments being made available have recently been recommended by NICE and this announcement means that they will receive immediate interim funding from the CDF until final NICE guidance is published and comes into force. This means that some patients at this time will be able to access these treatments up to four months faster than under the previous system.
NHS England has been working closely with industry to reach agreements to make these new treatments immediately available to patients prior to final NICE guidance being issued. These treatments are:
- Ceritinib for the treatment of lung cancer
- Dabrafenib and trametinib as combination therapy for the treatment of melanoma
- Ipilimumab and nivolumab as combination treatment for the treatment of melanoma
- Trifluridine and tipiracil for the treatment of bowel cancer
Two existing CDF treatments have recently been recommended by NICE in draft guidance; they will also receive interim funding through the CDF until final NICE guidance is published:
- Bosutinib for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia
- Pemetrexed as maintenance treatment after induction pemetrexed-containing chemotherapy in lung cancer
Andrew says, “This announcement is good news for local people. The Cancer Drugs Fund was set up in 2011 for patients to access treatments which were sought by doctors but which had not been given the go-ahead for widespread use on the NHS. The £200 million a year fund has made a huge difference to patients since it was launched, allowing tens of thousands of them to access vital drugs that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to access.
There were though concerns about how long it could take to approve and access these drugs under the former process and I raised this issue quite a lot in Parliament through my previous role as a member of the Health Select Committee. I welcome the changes that will now allow patients to access these drugs a lot sooner.
Meeting the challenges of more expensive drugs, increased life expectancy, increased costs of healthcare and other pressures currently facing the NHS remains a challenge though for our local NHS Trusts.”
Dr Jonathan Fielden, Director of Specialised Commissioning and Deputy National Medical Director at NHS England, adds, “The new Cancer Drugs Fund is open for business, with four new treatments to be made immediately available to patients.
“Today marks the culmination of extensive work to ensure the new CDF will benefit the cancer patients, taxpayers and industry. The new approach developed by NHS England and NICE is faster and less rigid than before, meaning patients will be able to access promising new and innovative treatments much earlier.
“The fund has already helped nearly 100,000 people, and we want to make sure it continues to do so, which is why we will continue to work with industry to ensure taxpayers get best value for money and find innovative ways to achieve this best value for patients.”
