Watchdog to review its rejection of life-extending blood cancer drug

Thousands could soon benefit from a life-extending blood cancer drug, after the NHS spending watchdog was forced to review its decision to stop funding the treatment.

The drug – IsaPD – has been shown to add a year of life for patients with an incurable form of blood cancer, myeloma, but in June it was decided that it was not value for money.

Earlier this year The Mail on Sunday raised the alarm over the decision, which was branded a ‘huge blow’ by campaigners.

Now, a leading charity has won its appeal to have the watchdog, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), reassess its move to reject the rollout of IsaPD on the Health Service.

A 2021 study, published in medical journal The Oncologist, found the drug is twice as effective at improving life expectancy of patients by a year when compared with standard treatment. It is already available in Scotland after the Scottish Medical Consortium approved it in 2021.

Shelagh McKinlay, director of research and advocacy at Myeloma UK, said: ‘We’re urging them to do the right thing and make this life-changing treatment available permanently on the NHS as soon as possible.’

More than 24,000 people in the UK have myeloma, with about 6,000 new diagnoses every year. Most patients are over the age of 65 years. Symptoms include persistent bone pain, tiredness, shortness of breath, and repeated infections.

IsaPD, which costs £2,000-a-month, is a combination of isatuximab plus pomalidomide and dexamethasone, which boosts the immune system to help it find cancer cells hiding in the body.