Cancer drug firms told to lower prices

The drugs companies behind two new cancer treatments deemed too expensive for use in Ireland have been told to lower their prices if they want their product prescribed.

Lung cancer drug crizotinib which retails under the name Xalkori, and breast cancer drug, pertuzumab, which sells as Perjeta, have both been found in trials to improve the quality of life for patients with specific advanced forms of the disease and, in the case of Perjeta, to boost survival rates.

But the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE), which is tasked with assessing whether new drugs represent value for money, has concluded neither is cost-effective and has recommended the HSE not fund them for public patients.