New RCF report on exceptional funding
The Rarer Cancers Foundation has today launched a report on improving access to cancer medicines. Exceptional Funding is the RCF’s contribution to discussions about how the Cancer Drugs Fund should be implemented. Key findings include:
- The recent announcement of extra funding for cancer drugs could benefit 2,400 patients. Although this will be sufficient for the initial months of the Cancer Drugs Fund, it will not be sufficient for the longer term
- If the Treasury fails to increase resourcing levels from £100 million per year to the promised £200 million per year, then 3,600 patients will be denied life-extending treatment due to a lack of funding
- The additional costs associated with making available every cancer treatment which clinicians wish to prescribe range from £175 million to £330 million per year. The lower figure is believed to be the most realistic estimate
In total, the report makes 25 recommendations. Key points include:
- The Government should honour its commitment to provide £200 million of funding per year to the Cancer Drugs Fund
- The Fund should cover treatments licensed since 1 January 2005 and treatments which clinicians wish to use in a near-label setting
- The Cancer Drugs Fund should be used to pilot approaches to value based pricing
- Manufacturers should be encouraged to negotiate a commercially confidential cost cap with the NHS, thereby ensuring that the £200 million is not exceeded. The negotiations on the cap calculation should be based on:
- The potential size of the eligible patient population, adjusted for the impact of patient preference, contraindications and the availability of any clinical alternatives.
- The listed unit price of the treatment.
- Clinical effectiveness (based on feedback provided by expert advisory groups of cancer clinicians).
- The extent to which the treatment addresses an unmet need (again, based on feedback provided by expert advisory groups of clinicians.
- Clinical audit should play a fundamental role in the Cancer Drugs Fund, ensuring that the NHS gathers new evidence on the scale of demand for treatment and the benefits that it brings. Audit will also be important in ensuring the scheme is not abused, for example through parallel exporting.
The report is available here.
