CONTRIBUTORS national health executive
Editorial Editor
Stephen Lewis
editorial@nationalhealthexecutive.com Assistant Editor Richard Mackillican
richardm@cognitivepublishing.com Editorial Assistant Sacha Rowlands
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Patients can only access the drug through private health insurance, clinical trials, patient access schemes in certain PCTs or by paying to top-up their NHS treatment.
NICE found that the high cost of the drug relative to the benefits it brings means that it is not a cost- effective use of NHS resources for this kind of cancer.
It is estimated that approximately 6,500 people per year might be eligible for the drug, which costs around £20,800 per patient.
Average circulation for the period 1/1/09 – 31/12/09 is 7,993 per issue
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Environmental Policy As a business the environment is very impor- tant to us. As such our magazines are printed using paper from a well-managed source. All inks used are vegetable based (soya or rape seed). Our printers are currently certified to ISO 14001 Environmental Management.
One would think that if the manufacturers charged less, and therefore offered better value for money, there would be more chance of the drug being approved.
Unfortunately, it’s not quite as straightforward as this, not least because the price at which it is sold in the UK will be influenced by the price at which it sells in other European countries.
Stay informed, stay in front Sep/Oct 10 nhe 3
Avastin has been licensed in the UK since 2005 but it is not currently available on the NHS to bowel cancer patients.
A move to value-based pricing, whereby the initial price the NHS pays would be set by the expected benefits to patients from the drug, could lead to the sort of price controls seen elsewhere in Europe.
NICE’s decision may be bad news for Roche and for sufferers of bowel cancer but there was some good news for the company and its shareholders when its half year results were announced recently.
Group sales were up 5% in local currencies to 24.6 billion Swiss francs - about £16 billion. Operating profit before exceptional items was up significantly, rising 11% in local currencies (10% in Swiss francs) to 8.8 billion Swiss francs (£5.7 billion).
Net income rose 37% compared with the first half of 2009. Core earnings per share were up 11% in local currencies, 9% in Swiss francs.
The company’s biggest seller? Avastin with a 14% rise at 3.9 billion Swiss francs (£2.5 billion).
Michelle Baldwin
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Commercial Business Development Manager Roy C. Rowlands
royc@cognitivepublishing.com Circulation Manager Leanne Bennett
subscriptions@nationalhealthexecutive.com Accounts/Finance Heidi Rowlands
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daniell@cognitivepublishing.com Publisher
Roy V. Rowlands
royv@cognitivepublishing.com
Don’t blame NICE T
he poor people who protested outside the offices of NICE after its preliminary decision
not to recommend Avastin for the treatment of advanced bowel cancer were in the wrong place.
They should have been in Welwyn Garden City protesting outside the offices of Roche, the manufacturers of the drug.
The way in which drugs are currently priced is clearly unsatisfactory. Pharmaceutical companies are free to set the prices of their drugs, making the UK an attractive first-tier launch market for innovative drugs.
This is likely to change, however, when the current Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme expires in 2013.
EDITOR’S COMMENT
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