Posted by Michael Wonder on 09 Dec 2016
When the price is right: drug costing and NICE approval
5 December 2016 - Price discounts are leading to a flurry of NICE approvals.
After years of standoffs and angry words, drug companies are cutting prices of cancer treatments in a bid to gain approval for use in the NHS in England.
This change of policy, unpredicted when the old Cancer Drugs Fund was wound up in July,1 has analysts puzzled. Has the industry finally recognised that its products are not worth as much as it once claimed? Or is there a subtle plan to clear the decks of unapproved drugs to make room in the revamped Cancer Drugs Fund for yet more expensive ones coming down the pipeline?
