Cancer patients denied new treatments as drug companies impose huge price hikes

HEALTH EDITOR CANCER sufferers in Britain are losing out on access to drugs while the cost of some life-saving medication has risen by 1,000 per cent, scientists warn.

Research shows watchdogs in France and Germany are far more likely than those in the UK to approve new treatments. And a study which examined prices charged by drugs companies for some of the most common cancer treatments found 20 had risen by more than 100 per cent in the past five years, with more than 1,000 per cent increases for some of the most important treatments.

In many cases, drugs which cost pounds in Britain were available for pennies in India, where many of them are made. Tamoxifen, a common breast cancer drug, rose from 10p per tablet to £1.21 – an increase of 1,100 per cent. The drug costs 2p per pill in India. Busulfan, used to treat leukaemia, rose from 2p per pill to £2.61 – a 1,142per cent rise. In India it sells for 3p.

Researchers from the University of Liverpool who presented the findings to the European Cancer Congress in Amsterdam said they were “worrying”.

Lead author Dr Andrew Hill, senior research fellow, said: “We were surprised to find several companies consistently raising the prices of cancer treatment. Twenty treatments have shown rises of over 100 per cent in the last five years, and in two, busulfan and tamoxifen, prices increased by over 1,000 per cent.”

Dr Hill said the hikes involved generic drugs which should be sold at close to cost price, with the costs of research and development already recouped. “The budgets are struggling, the NHS is not recommending some treatments just because the price is too high,” he said.

“We have found that some companies take over the supply of some generic cancer medicines and then raise the price progressively.”

A second study examined approval processes for 48 new cancer drugs that were evaluated between 2011 and 2015 for use in European Union countries.

It found that while France and Germany turned down 20 per cent of new drugs, about 33 per cent of treatments were rejected by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice).

The treatments extended life for cancer sufferers by an average of three months, the German study found.

Researchers said access to drugs in England and Wales also fared worse because evaluation processes were far slower than those in other countries.

Prof Paul Workman, chief executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, said: “Nice has to make difficult decisions but exciting new cancer drugs are taking too long to reach the people who urgently need them.”

The Department of Health is introducing legislation where companies found to be raising prices with no clear justification will be referred to the Competition and Markets Authority, and could face fines.