UK celeb seeks funds to challenge NICE's Enhertu verdict

UK actor and TV personality Nadia Sawalha is spearheading a fundraising effort to launch an appeal against the recent rejection of a breast cancer therapy by cost-effectiveness agency NICE.

In an Instagram post, the former star of long-running soap opera Eastenders and regular co-host of the Loose Women talk show asked fans to donate to the effort, which needs to raise £150,000 for the legal challenge by tomorrow. At the time of writing, the fundraising tally was standing at around £54,000.

The aim is to reverse NICE's decision not to recommend NHS funding in England and Wales for AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo's HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) as a second-line treatment for unresectable or metastatic HER2-low breast cancer on the grounds that it is too expensive.

The decision – which was finalised in July – resulted in a disparity in access to the therapy within the UK, as Enhertu was backed for this use by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) last December. It is estimated that around 1,000 people in England and Wales would have been eligible for treatment with Enhertu if NICE had backed it.

Sawalha is one of the 'Fab Four' women, alongside friends Hannah Gardner – who has stage 4 breast cancer and received Enhertu through a clinical trial – Helen Addis, and Cas Shore. In July, they joined 25 women in a bare, painted-chested protest outside the Houses of Parliament to draw attention to the issue, and Sawalha is also seeking a meeting with new UK Health Secretary West Streeting later this month.

The latest fundraising effort by the group is an auction to win two VIP Loose Women tickets, a photo at the TV show's iconic desk with the Loose Women, and a lunch with the Fab Four afterwards.

"Despite petitions, protests, campaigns, and even government pressure, the secondary breast cancer community is being met with constant rejection from NICE," says the group's fundraising page on JustGiving.com.

"Our only option now is to take legal proceedings to continue the fight for those who need this drug urgently and for the thousands upon thousands who will need it in months and years to come."

AZ and Daiichi Sankyo have said that NICE's decision on Enhertu exposes how new methods and processes the agency uses to evaluate medicines are not working. In response, NICE has said its hands are tied because the companies have not made Enhertu available at a "fair price".