Red tape preventing cancer patients from accessing new drugs

Some cancers have had no new drugs licensed since 2000, according to Institute of Cancer Research report

Cancer patients are missing out on innovative new drugs, with red tape covering clinical trials and licensing among the factors to blame, according to a report by the UK's Institute of Cancer Research.

Children's cancers have received little in the way of new treatments, a finding the authors put down to drug companies failing to invest in these rare conditions and using regulatory loopholes to avoid conducting the necessary clinical trials.