CANCER charities expressed disappointment over a decision not to provide a life-extending breast cancer drug on the NHS in Scotland.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium, the organisation charged with assessing clinical effectiveness and value for money in Scotland, said there were concerns over the cost effectiveness of the pertuzamab treatment.
Drugs firm Roche which manufactures the drug under the brand name Perjeta said the decision was an "injustice for patients in Scotland".
The firm said patients with the HER2 positive breast cancer taking Perjeta lived on average just over six months longer without their disease getting worse than those treated with Herceptin or chemotherapy alone. However, the SMC said "there were concerns over the estimate of overall survival used in the analysis".
James Jopling, Breakthrough Breast Cancer's director for Scotland, said the decision was "hugely disappointing" as the treatment was "shown to be very effective at giving women with secondary breast cancer the benefit of more good quality time with their families as they approach the end of their lives".
He added: "Women with secondary breast cancer already have severely limited treatment options.
"This decision should serve as a timely reminder to the Scottish Government that they must take account of the wider value of medicines, particularly those which are innovative and those intended for people approaching the end of life ."
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