NICE’s methodology means people with cancer are not receiving medicines – said Sir Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca | Business News

The chief executive of AstraZeneca has criticized a public health body for refusing to make one of its breast cancer treatments available to NHS patients in England and Wales.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) ruled in March this year that patients should be denied access to Enhertu because he said that the medicine did not offer a good quality/price ratio.

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But Sir Pascal Soriot said he was disappointed with the decision – which is estimated to have affected at least 1,000 patients to date – and not least because Enhertu has been made available to patients in 17 other European countries, including National Health Service patients in Scotland.

He told Sky News: “NICE has a methodology that makes it difficult to access innovative medicines… called a severity score. And as an example, the decision was… that metastatic breast cancer is only a moderately serious disease.

“Most people would say it’s a serious illness. Patients, I’m sure, would say it’s a severe illness. But NICE concluded that it’s a moderately severe illness. It sounds like a technicality, but it’s very important because it stimulates the willingness to pay .

“So the end result is that 17 countries across Europe have decided to reimburse Enhertu for metastatic breast cancer. Most recently, Romania, has reimbursed it. In the UK, Scotland, which is using a different methodology, has decided reimburse Enhertu for metastatic breast cancer.

“And in England and Wales, patients don’t have access because of this NICE methodology.

“This really has to change. It’s affecting healthcare too, but it will affect many new and innovative medicines that are taken to patients dealing with serious illnesses.”

Raised at ‘every opportunity’

Sir Pascal said he had raised the issue “at every opportunity” with ministers and said he understood the new government was looking into the matter.

He continued: “We are hopeful that the methodology can be changed… If the methodology were to classify metastatic breast cancer as a serious disease automatically and instantly, the methodology used by NICE would recommend [using Enhertu].

“It’s not a question of price. The question is the methodology and the decision to classify metastatic breast cancer as a moderately severe or severe disease – which we all believe it is.”

Sir Pascal said the decision was important because it influenced where companies like AstraZeneca invest in research and development and launch new medicines.

He added: “When the industry… makes investment decisions, we look at [whether] Do we have good science in the country? And here the answer is a resounding yes for the United Kingdom. We have great science in this country. Do we have the right talent pool? The answer is another resounding yes. We have a great talent pool in the UK. Then we look at the financial environment, the tax rate and finally we look at access.

“Because if you want to invest in research and development, you have to believe that your medicines will get to patients. Otherwise you… [may] also do your research and development in other places, in other countries, where your medicines… [will benefit patients].

“And that’s really the area where the most effort needs to be made.”

Invest abroad instead of the UK

Sir Pascal – who early last year cited “discouraging” tax rates for a decision to invest $360 million in a new production facility in Ireland rather than the UK – said the last government had addressed some of its concerns, for example, addressing the discounts pharmaceutical companies must pay the NHS when the bill for branded medicines exceeds a certain level.

These costs have soared during the pandemic and caused the NHS – which already pays less for its medicines than other European healthcare providers – to recoup vast sums from the industry.

He said Rishi SunakThe government has also encouraged industry investment – resulting in AZ’s announcement in March that it will invest £450 million to research, develop and manufacture vaccines in Speke, Merseyside.

Increased profit

He was speaking as AstraZeneca, the biggest FTSE-100 company, reported a 7% rise in its core operating profit to $8.4 billion for the first six months of the year and updated its sales and profit forecasts for the entire year. the year. 2024.

Sales increased 18% to $25.6 billion, with AZ recording growth in four of the top five therapy areas – oncology; cardiovascular, renal and metabolism; respiratory and immunological and rare diseases.

The only slowdown in sales was seen in vaccines and immune therapies and reflected lower demand for the company’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Ironically, Enhertu had the biggest sales growth, with a 62% increase in revenues in the first six months of 2023, but the best-selling drug was again Farxiga, AZ’s treatment for type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease, where sales increased 38% to $3.8 billion during the period.

The number one player

Sir Pascal, who is widely regarded as the Most successful CEO of his generationcited particularly strong sales in emerging markets – where AZ is now the number one player globally among its peers.

AstraZeneca recently committed to launching 20 new molecular entities (medicines to undergo clinical trials) by 2030 and Sir Pascal said these would include treatments for types of cancer, obesity, kidney and heart disease.

He said “combination therapies” – where more than one medicine is used in a treatment regimen – are revolutionizing the future of healthcare and especially the way cancer is treated.

He continued: “Science has really exploded in our industry in the last few years. That’s why we’re investing in a series of technologies.

“Let me give you an example of how we want to use this. If you look at metastatic cancer, it’s very difficult to cure patients – you prolong life instead of curing patients.

“Our vision for curing cancer is actually to attack the cancerous tumor with a combination of antibody-drug conjugates, or double nucleotides along with bispecific antibodies…immune therapies. So you attack the cancerous tumor, you break it down, you shrink it… and you prevent the cancer cells or tumor from protecting itself against future treatments.

“Now, it’s not going to work on every cancer and every patient. But I think there’s great hope that in a variety of settings, for a variety of patients, we can achieve a cure in the next five to 10 years.”