Drugs giant Roche has said it will appeal against the decision by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) not to provide a new breast cancer drug developed during trials at the Royal Cornwall hospital, Truro.
Trials carried out in Cornwall showed the drug extended patients' lives by up to six months with reduced side effects.
The drug, previously known as TDM1 and now known as Kadcyla, is said to mark a breakthrough in that it allows chemotherapy to be delivered directly to cancer cells, destroying them from within.
Duncan Wheatley, clinical oncologist at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, said: "Kadcyla works in a different way to other treatments for breast cancer.
"In trials, Kadcyla was shown to prolong the lives of women with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, compared with existing therapies, while also minimising many of the side effects associated with standard chemotherapy."
Many of the side effects associated with standard chemotherapy such as hair loss, severe diarrhoea and fatigue, were reduced in patients taking Kadcyla.
But NICE has decided it cannot recommend the new drug because it is too expensive. This decision means that women living in England must rely on their clinicians' successful application to the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) - a temporary funding solution available only until 2016 - in order to receive Kadcyla. No such fund exists in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, meaning that many patients in the UK may not receive Kadcyla at all.
Drugs company Roche, which developed Kadcyla, said the UK was continuing to lag behind other countries across Europe with comparable purchasing power in terms of access to innovative cancer medicines. Kadcyla is currently available and routinely reimbursed without restriction, in many European countries including Finland, Denmark, Austria, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
"NICE's rejection of Kadcyla demonstrates quite simply that their current system is broken, not fit for purpose and in need of a complete overhaul when it comes to advanced cancer," said Dr Jayson Dallas, General Manager, Roche Products Limited.
"Despite Roche offering a significant discount we are once again disappointed that NICE has not shown any flexibility on access to Kadcyla – a drug with qualities that NICE Chief Executive, Sir Andrew Dillon, described on live television as "impressive". Kadcyla's linker technology has taken more than 30 years to develop and the drug itself is a product of more than 15 years of research and development. Refusing patients access to this drug is an incredible injustice and tantamount to turning the clock back in cancer research and development. We plan to appeal this decision."
