Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of proposals that the pharmaceutical industry should pay entirely for overspends in the Cancer Drugs Fund on the number of medicines that the industry puts forward for possible inclusion in that Fund.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
NHS England plans to invest in a new £340 million Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) to provide early access to cancer drug indications. Under the new process, any drugs that receive either a draft recommendation for routine commissioning or, where uncertainty exists, a recommendation for use within the CDF, will receive interim funding from the CDF from the point of marketing authorisation.
This earlier access to cancer drugs will benefit both patients and the pharmaceutical industry and NHS England believes it is only fair that the pharmaceutical industry makes a contribution if any overspend occurs.
NHS England’s impact assessment will not be completed until the detailed outcomes from the current consultation on the future of the CDF are confirmed.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decision that any overspend in the Cancer Drugs Fund is subsequently paid for entirely by the pharmaceutical industry and not shared between industry and the NHS.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
NHS England plans to invest in a new £340 million Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) to provide early access to cancer drug indications. Under the new process, any drugs that receive either a draft recommendation for routine commissioning or, where uncertainty exists, a recommendation for use within the CDF, will receive interim funding from the CDF from the point of marketing authorisation.
This earlier access to cancer drugs will benefit both patients and the pharmaceutical industry and NHS England believes it is only fair that the pharmaceutical industry makes a contribution if any overspend occurs.
NHS England’s impact assessment will not be completed until the detailed outcomes from the current consultation on the future of the CDF are confirmed.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the agreement that NHS England and the pharmaceutical industry would share the financial risks of cost over-runs in the Cancer Drugs Fund, why it has been decided that the pharmaceutical industry will carry all of those costs.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
NHS England plans to invest in a new £340 million Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) to provide early access to cancer drug indications. Under the new process, any drugs that receive either a draft recommendation for routine commissioning or, where uncertainty exists, a recommendation for use within the CDF, will receive interim funding from the CDF from the point of marketing authorisation.
This earlier access to cancer drugs will benefit both patients and the pharmaceutical industry and NHS England believes it is only fair that the pharmaceutical industry makes a contribution if any overspend occurs.
NHS England’s impact assessment will not be completed until the detailed outcomes from the current consultation on the future of the CDF are confirmed.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect a reimbursement decision on each of the drugs launched since June 2015 that were affected by the pause in listing new drugs on the Cancer Drugs Fund list.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Since June 2015, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published final technology appraisal guidance on the cancer drugs/indications listed in the following table.
Topic title | Final guidance publication |
Melanoma (unresectable, metastatic) - pembrolizumab (after ipilimumab) [TA357] | October 2015 |
Melanoma (unresectable, metastatic, ipilimumab naive) - pembrolizumab [TA366] | November 2015 |
Multiple myeloma – panobinostat (post 1 prior therapy) [TA380] | January 2016 |
Melanoma (advanced, unresectable, metastatic) - nivolumab [TA384] | February 2016 |
NHS England has advised that it envisages, under the new arrangements for the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), that a greater number of cancer drugs will be funded from baseline commissioning. Under the new process, any drugs that receive either a draft recommendation for routine commissioning or, where uncertainty exists, a recommendation for use within the CDF, will receive interim funding from the CDF from the point of marketing authorisation.
NICE has advised that it is unable to provide a forecast as to when this will occur for technology appraisals published during the first year of the new CDF as this will depend on a number of factors including the value proposition put forward by manufacturers.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many patients they expect to benefit from the latest cancer medicines as a result of the proposals for a revised Cancer Drugs Fund to be effective from 1 April.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
We have made no such assessment.
NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recently consulted on draft proposals for the future direction of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF). The consultation outlines a new system, fully integrated into the NICE appraisal process, where the CDF becomes a transitional fund – with clear criteria for entry and exit. The consultation closed on 11 February 2016.
NHS England has advised that the operational detail of the new scheme will be developed over the coming months, informed by detailed analysis and consideration of the consultation responses received. A new Standard Operating Procedure for the CDF will be published by June 2016. Any changes to the list of available treatments through the Fund as a result of the changes in model will be published in due course.
NHS England has advised that it is optimistic that a greater number of cancer drugs will be funded from baseline commissioning in the future as a consequence of more appropriate pricing arrangements proposed by pharmaceutical manufacturers and the new CDF being able to address issues as to longer term patient outcomes in order to give such drugs the chance of re-appraisal by NICE with greater certainty as to clinical and cost effectiveness.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many more cancer medicines will be available to patients as a result of the proposals for a revised Cancer Drugs Fund to be effective from 1 April.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
We have made no such assessment.
NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recently consulted on draft proposals for the future direction of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF). The consultation outlines a new system, fully integrated into the NICE appraisal process, where the CDF becomes a transitional fund – with clear criteria for entry and exit. The consultation closed on 11 February 2016.
NHS England has advised that the operational detail of the new scheme will be developed over the coming months, informed by detailed analysis and consideration of the consultation responses received. A new Standard Operating Procedure for the CDF will be published by June 2016. Any changes to the list of available treatments through the Fund as a result of the changes in model will be published in due course.
NHS England has advised that it is optimistic that a greater number of cancer drugs will be funded from baseline commissioning in the future as a consequence of more appropriate pricing arrangements proposed by pharmaceutical manufacturers and the new CDF being able to address issues as to longer term patient outcomes in order to give such drugs the chance of re-appraisal by NICE with greater certainty as to clinical and cost effectiveness.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, under the new Cancer Drugs Fund, what steps will be taken to secure early patient access to cancer medicines with Promising Innovative Medicines designation that have successfully passed through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulation Agency's Early Access to Medicines Scheme.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
NHS England has advised that, under the proposals considered and approved by NHS England’s Board on 25 February 2016, the new Cancer Drugs Fund will provide access at drug launch for drug/indications which have a draft National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommendation for use including those drugs that have successfully been through the Early Access to Medicines Scheme.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cancer medicines are expected to be given a conditional approval by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the first year of operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has advised that it is unable to provide a forecast as the number of technology appraisals published during the first year of the new Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) will depend on a number of factors including the value proposition put forward by manufacturers.
NHS England has advised that it envisages, under the new arrangements for the CDF, that a greater number of cancer drugs will be funded from baseline commissioning. This will be as a consequence of more appropriate pricing arrangements proposed by pharmaceutical manufacturers and better evidence being available through the Fund as to longer term patient outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have had discussions with NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence about whether new medicines not accessible through the Cancer Drugs Fund since June 2015 will be prioritised for early review under the proposed new terms of that Fund.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department has had regular discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS England about the future operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund, including arrangements for the assessment of cancer drugs that are not currently available through the Fund.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cancer medicines launched since June 2015 are available via the Cancer Drugs Fund.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
No new cancer medicines have been added to the national Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) list since June 2015. As part of its work to reprioritise the Fund in 2015-16, NHS England took the decision not to consider new drugs for inclusion on the national CDF list.
NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recently consulted on draft proposals for the future direction of the Fund. The consultation outlines a new system, fully integrated into the NICE appraisal process, where the CDF becomes a transitional fund – with clear criteria for entry and exit.
Clinicians continue to be able to apply for cancer drugs not on the national CDF list through the Individual Cancer Drugs Funding Request procedure.