England's NHS Watchdog Denies Access to AstraZeneca's Breast Cancer Drug

By Helena Smolak

England's healthcare watchdog blocked access for AstraZeneca's and Daiichi Sankyo's drug Enhertu drug in the country's public health system, marking the first time in six years that a breast cancer treatment had been deemed too costly by the public health body.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which provides national guidance on health care, said late Monday that the companies were "unwilling" to offer a price that would enable the authority to recommend Enhertu as cost effective for the public health system, also called NHS.

The U.K. and Japanese pharmaceutical companies jointly developed and commercialize Enhertu, a treatment for patients with HER2-low advanced breast cancer. It is estimated that around 1,000 people would have been eligible for AstraZeneca's treatment in England, the authority said.

NICE said it would reconsider recommending the drug under a rapid review process within weeks if AstraZeneca were to drop its price to a level that makes Enhertu good value for money for the taxpayer.

AstraZeneca said it disagreed with NICE's decision. NICE would misclassify HER2-low metastatic breast cancer as a 'medium severity' disease, according to the pharmaceutical company.

"We remain committed to working with NICE to find a way forward for these patients--one that appropriately recognizes the severity of this disease and the value of the medicines that target it," an AstraZeneca spokeswoman said.

Daiichi Sankyo did't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Eighteen other European countries, including Scotland and most recently Romania, enabled patient access to the drug for HER2-low breast cancer patients.

NICE's decision follows its initial rejection in March.

"The methodology needs to score metastatic breast cancer as a severe disease. If that is done then the methodology NICE uses will automatically lead to a recommendation of reimbursement, just like Scotland did," AstraZeneca's Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said last Thursday.

"The price we have offered is a very competitive price, so much so that we have reimbursement in many countries around the world," he said.

AstraZeneca didn't disclose the price.

Write to Helena Smolak at helena.smolak@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 30, 2024 04:46 ET (08:46 GMT)

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