This article caught my eye, as its a subject close to my heart, with my Mum having survived 2 bouts of breast cancer.
It appears that a new drug, Kadcyla, adds 6 months to the average life span of a woman diagnosed with the aggressive terminal form of breast cancer, HER2-positive, that has spread to other parts of the body and surgery is not an option
At a whopping £90,000 per patient the NHS advisory board NICE have taken a swipe at the drugs manufacturer, Roche, for not offering the drug at a more affordable price. NICE have stated they need a discount of 60%. The manufacturers have hit back and said that they have offered it at an undisclosed lower figure.
Common sense must prevail here and NICE and Roche must carry on talks. My Mum fought and won her battle against her cancer but I know i'd be fuming if I thought there was a drug that could potentially help her and it wasnt being offered due to a spat on price between the NHS and a drug company.
Who is right though? The NHS simply cannot afford the kind of money that Roche are after. Roche are a company that naturally needs to make profit as a business.
