Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will take steps to encourage the England-wide roll-out of the drug Enhertu to aid the treatment of people with breast cancer.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing evidence-based guidance on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service, based on an assessment of their costs and benefits.

The NICE published guidance in 2021 and 2023 recommending Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) for the treatment of NHS patients with HER2-positive breast cancer through the Cancer Drugs Fund, and it is now available to eligible NHS patients in line with the NICE’s recommendations.

The NICE is currently evaluating Enhertu for the treatment of metastatic HER2-low breast cancer, and published final draft guidance on 5 March 2024 that does not recommend it as a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources. Stakeholders have until 19 March 2024 to lodge an appeal against the NICE’s recommendations. The NICE currently expects to publish final guidance on 3 April 2024.