A BREAST cancer drug is to be made available to patients on the NHS in Scotland after being rejected three times.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), the body which approves drugs for use by the health service, previously rejected Perjeta on cost grounds. However, following talks
between the Scottish Government and the drug’s manufacturer, Roche – and a petition set up by charity Breast Cancer Now which was signed by 12,000 people – it has been approved.
A new drug for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis was also backed by the SMC yesterday.
Perjeta has been shown to be capable of extending the lives of women with incurable HER2-positive breast cancer for up to nearly 16 months. An estimated 415 patients per year in Scotland could be eligible to receive Perjeta, also known as pertuzumab.
When it is combined with another cancer drug, trastuzumab, Perjeta is believed to block tumour cell growth. More than 4500 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year in Scotland. Around 15% of those patients will be HER2-positive.
Dr Iain Macpherson, consultant medical oncologist at the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow said: “By adding Perjeta, we increase the chances of eliminating the cancer in the breast and we know this is associated with good long-term outcomes.”
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “The decision by the SMC to approve Perjeta for use in the treatment of certain breast cancers is very welcome.
“Being diagnosed with cancer is an incredibly difficult time for all those affected, and we are committed to supporting and continually improving patient care.
“Our reforms of recent years of the medicines assessment and approval system has seen the number of new medicines being approved for use in the NHS increase. This case shows that where companies bring forward new medicines at a fair price, backed by clinical evidence, that the SMC can approve them.”
The new MS drug is Ocrelizumab (Ocrevus), also made by Roche. It had also been previously rejected on cost grounds.
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