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A drug that has a dramatic impact on advanced skin cancer, described as melting tumours away within weeks, has been given draft approval for use in the NHS in spite of its high price and generally short-lived benefits.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) turned down vemurafenib, sold by Roche under the brand name Zelboraf, in June because it offered only months of extra life for people with metastatic melanoma and cost ?1,750 a week ? ?91,000 a year.
But now, after Nice asked Roche for additional data on the drug's effectiveness and the NHS was offered a substantial confidential discount, the drugs watchdog has concluded that vemurafenib fulfils the criteria for cost-effectiveness in an end-of-life treatment ? giving patients an extra three months of life compared with treatments already in use.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/02/skin-cancer-drug-nhs
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) turned down vemurafenib, sold by Roche under the brand name Zelboraf, in June because it offered only months of extra life for people with metastatic melanoma and cost ?1,750 a week ? ?91,000 a year.
But now, after Nice asked Roche for additional data on the drug's effectiveness and the NHS was offered a substantial confidential discount, the drugs watchdog has concluded that vemurafenib fulfils the criteria for cost-effectiveness in an end-of-life treatment ? giving patients an extra three months of life compared with treatments already in use.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/02/skin-cancer-drug-nhs