As of July 2016, funding from England's Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) is dispensed based on the results of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal guidances instead of independent CDF appraisals (1). As part of this transition, NICE is reconsidering drugs previously funded through the CDF (2). This analysis examines CDF reconsiderations conducted between the inception of the new process in July and the end of 2016 to identify any possible trends.

We collected all NICE final technology appraisal guidances (3) completed before the end of 2016 and noted whether each drug was a CDF reconsideration, what the final decision was, and which factors impacted the decisions.

We identified twenty-one NICE oncology reviews competed between July 2016 and the end of 2016. Of these reviews, eight were reconsiderations of drugs previously funded through the old CDF; the rest were new reviews. Only one drug evaluated in the reconsiderations received a negative decision. All the reconsiderations included confidential manufacturer discounts and all noted updated clinical data. End of life (EOL) criteria expanded the acceptable incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) range for some of the CDF reconsiderations.

All the reconsiderations included updated clinical data and analyses, though it does not appear that updated clinical data were sufficient to bring ICERs to acceptable levels. This is to be expected as the old CDF process served as an alternate funding source for many drugs that did not or were unlikely to fare well under NICE's evaluations. The updated clinical data may have at least increased NICE's confidence in the accuracy of the ICERs. All of the reconsiderations included confidential manufacturer discounts to reach acceptable ICER ranges. The results of this first round of reconsiderations suggest that manufacturers prefer offering their drugs at lower prices to potentially losing National Health Service (NHS) reimbursement entirely.