Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on its decision to not proceed with the approval of Durvalumab for recovering cancer patients.

The Department has regular discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) about a range of issues, including access to cancer treatments for National Health Service patients.

The NICE currently has a number of appraisals related to durvalumab in development or awaiting development, and has made no decision not to proceed with an appraisal of durvalumab related to recovering cancer patients.

Earlier this year, the NICE combined its appraisals of durvalumab for hepatocellular carcinoma at high risk of recurrence into a single appraisal. The NICE’s guidance for this topic is currently awaiting development, and information regarding the timelines for this appraisal will be available at the earliest opportunity, on the NICE’s website, at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/awaiting-development/gid-ta11222