NICE recommends AstraZeneca's Tagrisso for the Cancer Drugs Fund

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued final draft guidance which says Tagrisso (osimertinib) from Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) should be made available to some people with lung cancer through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF).

Hundreds of patients with a particularly aggressive form of the disease could benefit from the new drug that was only licensed in February.

People with this particular type of lung cancer usually have distressing symptoms and their disease can progress very quickly,” commented Professor Carole Longson, director of NICE’s Health Technology Evaluation Centre, adding: “Osimertinib is clinically effective in the short-term. However, we do not have the full picture yet and we need more information on its long term benefits to find out if it is truly cost effective. For the first time, we are able to give patients access to a promising new cancer treatment whilst more evidence is gathered on its effectiveness. This is the system working as it should.”