AQW 12164/22-27 Written question to the Minister of Health
To ask the Minister of Health to detail the current status of patient access to trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) for new eligible breast cancer patients.
Asked by Nuala McAllister MLA on 17 May 2024
- Answered
- Written
- After due date
- Tabled
- 17 May 2024
- Answer due by
- 4 June 2024
- Answered
- 11 June 202425 days after tabling
- Department
- Department of Health
- Priority question
- No
Answer
My Department has a formal link with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) under which NICE Technology Appraisals are reviewed locally for their legal and policy applicability here, and where found to be applicable, they are endorsed for implementation within Health and Social Care (HSC) organisations. Where NICE has recommended trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) for use, it is available to eligible patients in Northern Ireland, where infrastructure is in place and the service has capacity.
NICE are currently considering the use of trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) for treating HER2-low metastatic or unresectable breast cancer in adults. A date for final guidance is to be confirmed.
Under the extant HSC Managed Entry process, the Department’s Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG) which is responsible for commissioning, may look to decisions made by other relevant UK bodies to inform commissioning decisions in the absence of a NICE determination. In this case, trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) is currently accepted for use in Northern Ireland for HER2-low metastatic breast cancer in line with the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) advice and is available to patients in NI on an interim commissioning (cost per case) basis, pending any recommendation from NICE to inform longer-term commissioning decisions.
When the final guidance for this treatment is issued by NICE, my Department will consider it under the usual process for NICE Technology Appraisals as per the guidance set out in circular HSC (SQSD) 12/22 which is available at:
https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/health/doh-hsc-sqsd-12-22.pdf
In the interim, the Department’s SPPG, in line with the SMC advice, where infrastructure is in place and the service has capacity, will continue to make this drug available to patients in NI on an interim commissioning (cost per case) basis, until the NICE final guidance is published.