Patients with Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer to Benefit from SMC's Decision to Recommend Abraxane in Combination with Gemcitabine

Abraxane (paclitaxel formulated as albumin bound nanoparticles; nab-paclitaxel), in combination with gemcitabine, has been recommended for use within NHS Scotland by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) for the treatment metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. The decision follows the recent NHS England announcement to defer their review of Abraxane for metastatic pancreatic cancer, allowing the treatment to remain on the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) until a final decision is made.

Professor Jeff Evans, Professor of the Translational Cancer Research, University of  Glasgow, said: “I welcome the Scottish Medicine Consortium decision to approve the prescribing of Abraxane in Scotland. Pancreatic cancer has extremely low survival rates as the majority of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Abraxane has shown that it is able to increase survival for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer and now sufferers of the disease in Scotland will be able to benefit from this treatment.”

Wim Souverijns, Vice President and General Manager, Celgene UK & Ireland, said: “Celgene is dedicated
to working with all the reimbursement bodies in the UK and Ireland to make sure that as many eligible
metastatic pancreatic cancer patients can be treated with Abraxane, in combination with gemcitabine, as possible. Access to innovative cancer medicines generates clear benefits to patients. Therefore, widening access to life-extending treatments for cancer patients has the potential to reduce the rise in cancer mortality rates that has been seen over the last two decades and help to increase survival rates in pancreatic cancer which have hardly moved in decades.

The SMC has recognised the clinical benefit of Abraxane, in combination with gemcitabine, so Scottish patients will now be able to receive the treatment alongside their counterparts in England and Wales.”