Dear MP,
Congratulations on your new role as my local MP. I look forward to working with you to improve the outcomes and experience of those affected by breast cancer in our area and beyond.
I am writing to alert you to an issue which needs your immediate attention.
Thousands of women are at risk of missing out on accessing the drug Enhertu. This will shorten lives. And it means England, Wales and Northern Ireland are in danger of becoming an outlier in accessing the most effective breast cancer drugs. Will you urgently speak with NICE, NHS England, Daiichi Sankyo, and AstraZeneca to ensure a solution is found that means this drug can be made available?
Enhertu is a game-changing treatment for women living with HER2-low incurable secondary breast cancer. It is the first licensed, targeted treatment for their type of secondary breast cancer. It offers them the hope of more time – more time to spend with their families and make memories. More time to do the things they love.
However, that hope is at risk of being snatched away. It has been rejected for use on the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This is despite it being available in 16 other European countries, including Scotland. This has created an unacceptable postcode lottery of access to this life-extending treatment. England, Wales and Northern Ireland are being left behind.
Public support for granting access to this treatment is undeniable. The rejection has received widespread coverage in national print and broadcast media. Nearly 300,000 people have added their name to Breast Cancer Now’s Enhertu Emergency petition – calling on NICE, NHS England, Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca to urgently find a solution.
NICE granted a short exceptional pause to publication of their final guidance in May to allow all parties to continue discussions to reach a commercial arrangement. Despite this, a solution has still not been agreed. Women who so desperately need access continue to be denied this life-extending treatment.
Enhertu for use in this group of patients was met with real excitement amongst the clinical community. Given the potential of this treatment, the fact that it has not been approved for use in England, Wales and Northern Ireland suggests that something in the system is simply not working. As well as the immediate issues surrounding Enhertu, we are deeply concerned that recent changes to NICE methods and processes, in particular the introduction of the severity modifier, will lead to other effective treatments for secondary breast cancer being rejected. If we can’t ensure life-extending innovations and treatments will reach patients, this has serious implications for UK plc and the wider life sciences sector.
We must not let this happen.
Please, on behalf of the thousands of people who could benefit from Enhertu, and the clinicians that want to offer it to them, will you ensure NICE, NHS England, Daiichi Sankyo and Astra Zeneca work together to find a solution?
Will you put pressure on Wes Streeting to urgently meet Helen Addis (instagram.com/thetittygritty) and charity Breast Cancer Now to discuss this situation? This treatment must be available on the NHS across the UK. You can contact Helen directly with any questions at info@the-c-list.com.
Signed by:
