OBJECTIVES: The Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) was set up in 2011 to enable cancer patients in England to access therapies that are not routinely publically reimbursed. Initially, inclusion was based on clinical criteria only with free-pricing for CDF-included therapies. However, due to escalating costs, in October 2014, economic criteria were introduced. In 2016, the original fund was closed and the CDF became a temporary reimbursement fund under the remit of NICE to collect observational data to inform subsequent technology appraisals. This research aims to evaluate what effect the introduction and reform of the CDF has had on NICE recommendation rates.

METHODS: All NICE Single Technology Appraisal (STAs) guidance for oncology drugs were screened up to 24/05/2017 and the date and outcome were extracted and were stratified by CDF status.

RESULTS: CONCLUSIONS: After the CDF was initially introduced there was a notable drop in the NICE recommendation rate. This suggests that the CDF provided an alternative market access route with free-pricing that companies preferentially entered (versus obtaining a NICE recommendation). Indeed, since economic evaluations were introduced there has been a prominent corresponding increase in NICE recommendation rates, which has been further pronounced since the CDF closed in 2016, reflecting the renewed importance of NICE recommendations for national reimbursement in oncology.