New breast cancer drug Kadcyla approved for use in Wales

A new drug which has the potential to extend the lives of women with advanced breast cancer has been approved for use in Wales

Kadcyla, which can extend the lives of women dying from an aggressive form of breast cancer, had initially been blocked for use by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) due to the high cost – £90,000 per patient.

Health Secretary Vaughan Gething announced, following negotiations with manufacturer Roche, Kadcyla will be routinely available on the Welsh NHS.

Roche agreed with NHS Wales the same commercial access agreement as NHS England.

This means that Welsh patients with certain types of advanced breast cancer will be able to benefit from the treatment.

The Welsh Government’s £80 million New Treatment Fund has been designed to ensure new medicines such as Kadcyla can be made available as soon as possible, and certainly within two months of the recommendation from NICE.

Health Secretary, Vaughan Gething, said:

I am very pleased to be able to announce that Kadcyla has been approved for use in Wales following negotiations with the manufacturer.

We are committed to improving the introduction of innovative, evidence-based, treatments, which is why we’ve introduced an £80 million treatment fund in Wales. The fund will be used to ensure patients get fast-access to this innovative, life-prolonging drug.