Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what new personalised treatments for glioblastoma are being assessed.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for assessing new medicines to ensure they meet the required standards of quality, safety, and efficacy before they can be authorised for use in the United Kingdom. The MHRA conducts a rigorous, evidence‑based scientific review of all applications for marketing authorisation and assesses them against statutory timelines. Northwest Biotherapeutics has submitted a marketing authorisation application to the MHRA for DCVax®-L, an immunotherapy for glioblastoma. The MHRA cannot comment on individual applications while they are under assessment but is committed to enabling safe and effective new treatments to reach patients as quickly as possible once the necessary standards are met.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether all new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. NICE aims wherever possible to issue recommendations on new medicines close to the time of licensing. NICE is in discussions with the manufacturer of DCVax-L, Northwest Biotherapeutics, about a potential appraisal subject to licensing.