UK Industry association suggests ways Cancer Drugs Fund could spike NICE's guns
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has suggested as part of its latest advice to the UK government that the £200 million-a-year Cancer Drugs Fund could be used to pay for treatments that are not yet available through the UK National Health System because they are stuck in appraisals at the UK's health technology agency, the National Centre for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). The proposal, which was delivered as part of the ABPI's response to a consultation on the Cancer Drugs Fund which closes on January 19, sounds innocuous. However, if adopted, it could make a significant dent in the Cancer Drugs Fund because the current average length of appraisals of oncology compounds at NICE is nearly 30 months (see Box below).