HSE to breach cost rules to buy new cancer drugs

The HSE is to spend €3.6m a year on new drugs to assist 230 patients with advanced forms of cancer.

The decision is in breach of Department of Health cost guidelines but will save or at least prolong lives.

Irish patients will have access to four new cancer drugs this week, following approval by the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP). The news was welcomed yesterday by the Irish Cancer Society.

Dr Susan O’Reilly, director of the NCCP, confirmed that the four drugs — used for the treatment of bone cancer, skin cancer, advanced prostate cancer, and renal cancer — were now available in hospitals across the country.

“With so much which is new and with the pace of development rapidly accelerating, it is very important that we provide our patients with access to these effective new drugs that can have substantial benefits,” she said.

“Equally, it is important to ensure that we have a rigorous approval system in place to ensure the clinical benefits and value of introducing any new drug or product.”

The drugs are Cabazitaxel (Jevtana), Vemurafenib (Zelboraf), Axitinib (Inlyta), and Mifamurtide (Mepact).

The decision to approve the drugs despite breaching the department’s cost threshold was welcomed yesterday by the Irish Cancer Society.

“What price can you put on a life? This is a very positive outcome for the patients concerned and we very much welcome it,” said Gráinne O’Rourke, ICS communications manager.

Cabazitaxel is a chemo- therapy drug used in combination with the steroid Prednisone to treat men with prostate cancer.

It is estimated that 22 patients will be treated with Cabazitaxel in 2013, rising on an annual basis to 34 in 2016. The initial annual cost of the drug is antici-pated to exceed €800,000 in the first year and is anticipated to rise to over €1m by 2017.

Vemurafenib is a new drug used in the treatment of melanoma (skin cancer). It is anticipated that 30 patients will be treated annually with Vemurafinib with that number increasing to almost to 50 by 2015. It is estimated that the annual cost of the drug will be in excess of €1.5m.

Mifamurtide has been approved for use in osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer which mainly affects children and young adults. Fewer than 10 patients each year will be treated and the budget impact is exp-ected to be in excess of €800,000 annually.