A watchdog has endorsed a new scheme under which a bone marrow-cancer drug's manufacturers would refund the NHS if a patient did not respond to treatment.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is recommending multiple myeloma patients in Wales and England should get Velcade on the NHS.
But it said the NHS should pay for the drug, which costs about £18,000 per patient, only when it worked.
The scheme, the first of its kind, was proposed by drugmaker Janssen-Cilag.
In clinical trials Velcade has been shown to slow, halt or even reverse the progression of multiple myeloma.
Under the terms of the NICE recommendation, patients showing a full or partial response to the drug would be kept on it, with the treatment funded by the NHS.
However, patients showing minimal or no response would be taken off it - and the costs would be refunded by the manufacturer.
June 4 2007
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