NICE approves CDF integration
The board of the U.K.'s NICE approved changes to the agency's processes and methodology as part of its scheme to integrate the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) into its appraisal process. The scheme will make the CDF a "managed access" fund to pay for drugs NICE recommends conditionally.
The changes allow NICE to begin assessing cancer drugs before they are approved, require NICE to issue final guidance within 90 days of approval, and remove a 7,000-patient limitation from end-of-life criteria that allow NICE to consider a higher cost-effectiveness threshold. To qualify for the end-of-life criteria, cancer drugs would stlil need to have a cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) of more than L30,000 ($43,113), treat an indication in which patients are not expected to live longer than two years, and demonstrate a survival benefit of at least three months. ...