Roche Discount Fails to Win Breast-Cancer Drug U.K. Backing
- NICE says NHS can't afford Roche's Kadcyla in final decision
- Patients taking Kadcyla don't have to stop taking it
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Roche Holding AG failed to win the endorsement of the U.K.’s health-cost regulator for its breast-cancer medicine Kadcyla, capping two years of haggling over the cost of the treatment.
In final guidance to the state-run health system, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence said the Roche drug is too expensive at about 90,000 pounds ($136,300) per patient. The decision not to fund Kadcyla comes after consultations with patient groups and doctors as well as representatives of the Basel, Switzerland-based company, starting in December 2013.