UK Charity Criticizes NICE Cancer Drug Decision

Cancer Research UK has criticized NICE's interim decision not to recommend olaparib (AZ's Lynparza) for ovarian cancer patients with BRCA gene mutations. 

Professor Peter Johnson of Cancer Research UK said the decision not to recommend the drug for "the small number of women with ovarian cancer and mutations in the BRCA gene is hard to understand. This is a great example of personalized medicine which offers a new treatment for a type of cancer where we have made little progress in the last decade and where there is a clear need for different approaches".

Professor Johnson added: "We hope that the manufacturer and NICE can work together quickly to reach an agreement which allows the drug to be made available when NICE issues its final guidance.”