Charity calls for new breast cancer drug to be given to UK women

Palbociclib may slow progress of disease by 10 months but Breast Cancer Now fears Nice will deem it not cost-effective

A breast cancer charity is calling for women in the UK to be given access to a drug that could slow the progress of advanced breast cancer by an extra 10 months compared with current treatment but is not yet licensed in Europe despite being used widely in the US.

Pfizer, the company that makes palbociclib, which is sold under the brand name Ibrance, only applied for a European licence last August, even though it was licensed for sale in the US in February 2015 and has been prescribed for 27,000 women.