NHS England backs CAR-T therapy in record 10 days after EU approval

In a record 10 days after the drugs approval in Europe, NHS England has agreed that a groundbreaking new personalized CAR-T therapy can be made available to patients.

NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens has announced today that children and young people in England will receive Swiss pharma giant Novartis’ (NOVN: VX) Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) a groundbreaking cancer treatment, the first in what is expected to be a rapidly expanding class of personalized cancer therapies available on the NHS.

NHS England’s commercial deal with Novartis is the first in Europe, and comes less than 10 days after the treatment was granted its European marketing authorization. It represents one of the fastest funding approvals in the 70 year history of the NHS.