NHS England fast track to prostate drug that could extend life by years

a prostate cancer Drugs that can extend life by many years are rapidly tracked by the NHS.

About 9,000 men with advanced disease Eligible for darolutamide as the UK healthcare service becomes the first to offer darolutamide in Europe.

The deal was made possible thanks to international partnerships set up to accelerate access to new medicines in the wake of Brexit.

Under the radical deal, darolutamide will be made available free of charge to the NHS until the drug authority completes its evaluation.

Studies show that the drug gives men with advanced disease an average of two extra years and reduces mortality by a third.

The drug has also been found to improve quality of life in patients with: not receiving other treatment.

It blocks the androgen receptors on cancer cells, blocking the effects of testosterone that allow cancer cells to survive and grow.

Darolutamide, also known by its brand name Nubeqa®, is already available in the NHS for selected patients with localized prostate cancer.

The offer is now expanded to cover people with widespread cancer after NHS England signed another early access deal after the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the drug. I’m here.

“Cutting edge medicine”

NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard said: advanced prostate cancer Thanks to the NHS for tracking the new drug deal so quickly.

“The NHS continues to lead the way in ensuring the best possible care for patients. It’s the latest in a long list of cutting-edge drugs that make a difference for patients and their families across the country.”

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, with approximately 47,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.

Nearly 9,000 people continue to suffer from this aggressive, metastatic prostate cancer.

Darolutamide is usually taken as a tablet with food and taken in combination with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and docetaxel chemotherapy.

A trial conducted in nearly 300 facilities, including NHS hospitals, found that patients who received the combination had a 32.5% lower mortality rate than those who received ADT and docetaxel alone.

The ARASENS trial found a two-year increase in median survival.

After chemotherapy with docetaxel is completed, men continue to take their own hormone therapy along with darolutamide to keep testosterone levels low and help the treatment work.

“Drivers for improving cancer outcomes”

The agreement comes after the UK’s medicines regulator, the MHRA, approved the treatment through Project Orbis. It is an international partnership between drug regulators in the UK, US, Australia and elsewhere, established to speed up the approval process for promising cancer treatments. .

Professor Peter Johnson, NHS National Cancer Director, said: To increase the chances of people surviving.

“This innovative treatment builds on the NHS’s ambition to improve cancer treatment and survival and will help thousands of patients. men diagnosed with prostate cancer Live a better quality of life and reduce your chances of dying by a third. “

Newly MHRA-approved NHS will begin offering new drug to eligible prostate cancer patients within weeks following latest early access agreement reached between UK NHS and drug manufacturer Bayer and the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE).

NICE is currently evaluating whether to recommend regularly prescribed drugs, and manufacturers are offering the drugs free of charge until the evaluation is complete.

Antonio Payano, Bayer UK & Ireland Chief Executive Officer, said: By working closely with the MHRA and NHS England, we were able to make this treatment available ahead of a recommendation from NICE so that more patients could benefit from it.

“This collaboration is based on a shared recognition of the value this new treatment option can provide as part of the drive to improve cancer outcomes.”

It is the fifth anti-cancer agent to be made available by the UK’s NHS through an early national access agreement under a Project Orbis license, and is the first anti-cancer agent to do so against mobocertinib, osimertinib, atezolizumab and the cutting-edge treatment sotorasib. according to the NHS contract of Called the “Death Star” mutation.