After long fight, England to provide AstraZeneca breast cancer drug

Andrew covers the biopharma industry, scientific research, and public health across the continent. You can reach Andrew confidentially on Signal at drewqjoseph.71.

LONDON — English health authorities on Thursday agreed to provide a breast cancer drug from AstraZeneca through the National Health Service, ending a years-long dispute that stoked questions about how committed the pharma company was to the U.K.

Notably, the move — one that will extend the drug, called Enhertu, to an estimated 1,000 people in England — is in part a result of a U.S.-U.K. drug pricing deal reached late last year. Under the pact, a U.K. health agency agreed to raise the thresholds for what would be considered a cost-effective drug and worth paying for on the NHS.

Now, women with metastatic breast cancer whose tumors have low levels of the protein HER2 will be eligible to receive Enhertu, a type of next-generation chemotherapy known as an antibody-drug conjugate. AstraZeneca noted that Scotland has covered the drug since 2023, and it’s paid for in 26 other European countries. (Patients with HER2-positive cancers have been able to get Enhertu in England.)