PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
ACCESS FOR MELANOMA PATIENTS TO INNOVATIVE NEW MEDICINES (25 November 2015)

That this House recognises the increasing prevalence in the UK of advanced melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer; further recognises the importance of access for melanoma patients to innovative new medicines; notes that the immunotherapy medicine Opdivo for the treatment of advanced melanoma is currently being appraised for use on the NHS by NICE; recognises that Opdivo is the first and only melanoma drug to receive a positive scientific opinion for the first line treatment of advanced melanoma under the Government's Early Access to Medicines Scheme which is designed to speed up patient access to treatments that have shown significant advances in areas of clear unmet medical need; further notes the positive trial data Opdivo has achieved, including demonstrating significant increases in one-year survival rates in the treatment of advanced or metastatic melanoma; notes that Opdivo received marketing authorisation in May 2015, but that in the absence of the Cancer Drugs Fund, or another interim commissioning arrangement, NHS melanoma patients will not be able to access the treatment until NICE has completed its appraisal which could be as far away as May 2016; supports the calls of patient advocacy group Melanoma UK for patient access to Opdivo at the soonest opportunity; and, following the failure of NHS England to put in place a solution to secure access for patients to this treatment, calls on NICE to work with Bristol-Myers Squibb to ensure that Opdivo is funded for NHS melanoma patients at the earliest opportunity.

Sponsored by:
Carolyn Harris (Labour)