Petition calling for cancer drug Vidaza to be made available on the NHS presented to new UK Prime Minister

17 May 2010

The MDS UK Patient Support Group and the health care professional body, the MDS UK Forum, today presented a 655-signature petition to the UK's new Prime Minister, David Cameron, asking for the same standard of care for UK patients with bone marrow diseases as that available throughout most of Europe.

The petition was sparked by the decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) not to make Vidaza (azacitidine), manufactured by US drugmaker Celgene, available through the National Health Service to patients with a range of life-threatening bone marrow diseases.

The MDS UK lodged an appeal against the negative NICE recommendation in March (The Pharma Letter March 23) and the Leukaemia Society and the Rarer Cancers Forum are also appealing the agency's guidance.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK