NHS will pay for last chance lung cancer pill Osimertinib

October 4, 2016

Osimertinib is first drug to be approved for revamped Cancer Drugs Fund
Trials have shown unprecedented reductions in the size of tumours
It is last chance for those dying of cancer when no other drugs will work

Ben Spencer for the Daily Mail

Published:
18:49 EST, 3 October 2016

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Updated:
05:34 EST, 4 October 2016

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Esma Richardson, 38, from South Shields, says osimertinib has had a remarkable effect on her

Hundreds of lung cancer patients are to benefit from a revolutionary tumour-busting drug after it was approved for use on the NHS.

Osimertinib is one of the first in a new generation of precision medicines that use patients’ genetics to target the individual characteristics of their illness.

The drug, made by British drugs firm AstraZeneca, last night became the first to be approved for the revamped Cancer Drugs Fund.

The daily tablets target non-small-cell lung cancer tumours among people who have a specific genetic mutation which means they have stopped responding to earlier treatments.

Trials have shown unprecedented reductions in the size of tumours – and in some patients all signs of cancer have been destroyed. The drug is a last chance for those dying of cancer when no other drugs will work.

For most this means an extra few months of good health at the end of their lives, giving them precious extra time with loved ones. But for some, the treatment has been shown to extend their lives by years.

Experts predict around 300 patients in England and Wales – who have a genetic mutation known as EGFR T790M-positive, and for whom other drugs have failed – will be eligible for osimertinib every year.

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Professor Carole Longson, of NHS drugs rationing watchdog NICE, said the drug, which is sold under the brand name Tagrisso, would be made available for two years while trials continue to assess its full effectiveness. The Cancer Drugs Fund was originally launched in 2011 as a way to fund drugs not available routinely on the NHS. It was relaunched in July as a ‘test bed’ for new treatments.

The scheme means that promising but expensive drugs which otherwise would not be funded because of cost, have two years to prove their worth to the NHS.

Osimertinib, which usually costs £4,722 a month, was due to be turned down by NICE, but was approved for the Fund after the NHS negotiated a confidential discount for its use. The terms of the Fund means drug companies have to subsidise their drugs for two years.

The daily tablets target non-small-cell lung cancer tumours among people who have a specific genetic mutation which means they have stopped responding to earlier treatments

Osimertinib has had a remarkable effect on Esma Richardson, 38, a mother-of-three, from South Shields, near Newcastle upon Tyne. A year and a half ago, she was dying of cancer and in agony with 18 tumours in her lungs, kidneys, ovaries and bones.

Mrs Richardson was put on a clinical trial of the drug in April last year. Her six-weekly scans immediately started showing that the tumours throughout her body were shrinking. Six weeks ago her latest scan showed no sign of any cancer in her body.

‘It’s amazing,’ she said. ‘It has taken me from my death bed to giving me my life back. I feel incredible [but] I still am classified as having incurable cancer, so I don’t know what will happen.’

Professor Longson said: ‘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.’