Health watchdog NICE has once again rejected the provision of cancer drug Avastin on the NHS for advanced bowel cancer sufferes, stating that the “cost does not justify the benefits.” (BBC News)

Swiss drug maker Roche’s initial proposal fixed the price of cancer drug Avastin at £20,800 per patient for one year – after which it would be provided free alongside accompanying anti-cancer chemotherapy drug Oxaliplatin.

In their latest proposal which includes all the previous components, Roche have also offered to include an upfront payment to the NHS for every patient that starts on Avastin.

Yesterday however, NICE once again refused to recommend the bowel cancer drug with Chief Executive Andrew Dillon stating that “Roche failed to show its complex price scheme would make Avastin cost-effective”. (Reuters UK)

Critics have been quick to condemn NICE’s decision which, according to Ian Beaumont, campaigns director of Bowel Cancer UK brought the priorities of the NHS into question.

 “I would argue that if people who are dying in agony are not a priority for the NHS, if people who can be helped to live longer and feel better in that situation are not a priority for the NHS, then there’s something wrong with the priorities of the NHS.” (BBC News)

Drug manufacturer Roche, who claim that by reducing blood supply to a tumour, Avastin had often shrunk tumours sufficiently enough to enable them to be removed through surgery, have also highlighted Britain as virtually the only developed country not to provide Avastin as an intrinsic part of the state health care system. (Telegraph)

Whilst the coalition cancer drug fund has provided cancer sufferers with a glimmer of hope, it is down to doctors locally to decide how this money is spent. For the estimated 6500 patients a year who could benefit from Avastin, any decision could therefore entail a long wait, which many can scarcely afford.

One bowel cancer sufferer, 56 year old Barbara Moss was given months to live after being diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2006. However, after deciding to fund Avastin privately, the treatment proved successful in shrinking the tumour sufficiently to be removed. Now in remission, Mrs Moss believes that it is thanks to Avastin that she is still alive. (Daily Mail)

Rob Glynne Jones, chief medical adviser at Bowel Cancer UK referred to survival figures to illustrate the effectiveness of Avastin to Daily Mail readers. He insists that according the latest national drug trials, the average survival for patients with advanced bowel cancer in the UK is only 19 months, whereas in countries where Avastin is being used routinely this figure can be as high as 27 months. (Daily Mail)

This latest blow highlights once more the ongoing battle for access to costly cancer drugs on the NHS. The Telegraph recently published a reported which revealed that there are in fact “23 cancer drugs which are licensed by the European Medicines Agency that have not been approved for use in Britain by NICE purely on cost grounds.”

If you are worried by these figures, private medical insurance may be the answer. With private medical insurance you can have access to an extensive range of drugs which are not available on the NHS. For advice on private medical cover or a no-obligation quote contact one of our impartial, specialist advisers at Best Health on 0800 073 0582.

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