NHS strikes deal on first in a new generation of cancer busting drugs

NHS England says that it has struck a deal which will see hundreds of people benefit form a ‘game-changing’ new cancer treatment.

The new drug, larotrectinib, will initially be used for children, young people and some adults, and targets tumors according to their genetic make-up, rather than where they originated from in the body. It will be added to the armory of National Health Service (NHS) cancer services, which have pulled out all the stops to ensure that vital treatment continues to be available for those who would benefit safely from it, said NHS England.

German pharma major Bayer’s (BAYN: DE) Vitrakvi (larotrectinib) became the first drug to receive a tumor-agnostic license in the European Union in September last year. It was been approved for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with solid tumors that display a neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase (NTRK) gene fusion, who have a disease that is locally advanced, metastatic or where surgical resection is likely to result in severe morbidity, and who have no satisfactory treatment options.

However, in January this year, the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said that larotrectinib can’t be recommended for use in the NHS because at its then current price, it doesn’t have the potential to be cost-effective.