Avastin Effecitve in Lung and Breast Cancer But is it Cost Effective?

Implications: Roche has elected not to provide information on the cost effectiveness and clinical effectiveness of Avastin in breast cancer to the medicine advisory board of the British government.  As such, the drug will not be able for first line treatment of these diseases in Britain.

Analysis: The decision is troubling in many ways.  Avastin has been shown in the ECOG lung cancer trials to improve survival in combination with chemotherapy as compared with the use of chemotherapy alone.  As such, the decision not to provide data will effect availability and will not portray Roche in a favorable light.  The issue in breast cancer is more complex- Avastin may not be cost effective in the first line therapy of breast cancer.  In either case, Roche's decision seems bad for patients and bad for Roche.