Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why Avastin is not routinely made available on the NHS for certain groups of cancer patients.

Most new medicines are assessed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) which makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether they represent a clinically and cost effective use of NHS resources. Since 2016, NICE makes recommendations for the NHS on all new licensed cancer medicines through its technology appraisal programme. NHS commissioners are legally required to fund treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal guidance.

NICE has appraised Avastin (bevacizumab) for use in the treatment of a number of different types of cancer and has unfortunately not been able to recommend it as a clinically and cost effective use of NHS resources for any type of cancer at the price offered by the drug company. Avastin is not therefore routinely funded by the NHS for any licensed indication.

Avastin is funded as an off-label treatment for some types of cancer through the Cancer Drugs Fund.