England NHS to Cover Enhertu After U.S.-U.K. Drug Deal — SkimNews
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- England's NHS agreed to cover AstraZeneca's breast cancer drug Enhertu, ending a years-long standoff that had publicly questioned the pharma company's commitment to the UK market.
- The decision extends access to an estimated 1,000 people in England with metastatic breast cancer whose tumors have low levels of the HER2 protein.
- The coverage expansion stems in part from a U.S.-U.K. drug pricing deal struck late last year, under which a UK health agency agreed to raise the thresholds for what counts as cost-effective for NHS funding.
- Enhertu, an antibody-drug conjugate, has been reimbursed in Scotland since 2023 and is already paid for in 26 other European countries.
- Patients with HER2-positive cancers were already eligible for Enhertu in England; the new decision opens the door for the previously excluded low-HER2 patient group.
Why it matters: Roughly 1,000 metastatic breast cancer patients in England gain access to Enhertu, while AstraZeneca's UK reputation recovers from a standoff that had cast doubt on its commitment to the country. The episode also shows the U.S.-U.K. pricing pact is already reshaping which drugs the NHS deems worth funding.
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