Dying for a Cure

The development of affordable and long lasting treatments for cancer is being held back by a need to satisfy the ambitious commercial objectives of the pharmaceutical industry, which are often at odds with the needs of patients. This has led to exorbitant pricing for new drugs, a failure to invest in promising discoveries that have limited commercial benefits and a drip-feed of new drugs of marginal therapeutic benefit rather than genuine breakthroughs for patients.

Our goal may be to beat cancer sooner but the current profit-led R&D system is geared to beat cancer later, as that's more beneficial for the drug companies who we depend on to turn cancer research into new medicines. We desperately need the R&D system to be reformed, so that it focuses on maximising benefits for patients rather than maximising profits.

In October 2014, Professor Paul Workman, Chief Executive of the Institute of Cancer Research and one of the world’s leading experts in cancer drug discovery, told the World Oncology Forum that “the global system for discovering new cancer drugs is broken and failing to turn scientific advances into enough innovative new medicines”.

In September 2015, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concluded that conflicts of interest between profits and public health within the pharmaceutical industry have led to a lack of new drugs of real therapeutic benefit in recent years and shocking levels of profiteering. Backed by the UK, it voted overwhelmingly in favour of a European-wide Resolution to tackle the issue.

In March 2016, Sir Richard Thompson, the Queen’s personal doctor for 21 years and a former-president of the Royal College of Physicians, warned that drug companies are developing medicines they can profit from, rather than those which are likely to be the most beneficial and he accused the NHS of failing to stand up to the pharmaceutical companies.

It is madness that governments are allowing cancer to be commercially exploited given the scale of suffering and death, and a kick in the teeth for all those who help by donating money to cancer research. We need to stop treating cancer like a money-making opportunity and start treating it like the humanitarian crisis it is.

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"The whole model of cancer drug discovery is
broken and in need of help"

Professor Paul Workman, Chief Executive and President of the Institute of Cancer Research

Pharmaceutical companies are not to blame for this - they are doing what commercial organisations are supposed to do; act in the best interests of their shareholders.

The blame lies with us; with Society. We have placed the responsibility for developing cures for our most deadly diseases into the hands of organisations motivated primarily by profit rather than public health and have failed to put in place regulations or incentives to protect public health interests.

Changes We Want To See

Overhaul Cancer Drug Development

We are campaigning for the UK Government to tackle failures in the system for developing cancer drugs that have led to:

profiteering - a failure to curb excessive profit margins on drug prices, leading to drugs being priced out of reach of patients;
missed opportunities - a failure to attract investment in promising discoveries with limited commercial potential, or to provide alternative public funding;
ineffective drugs - a failure to reward development of drugs with greater therapeutic benefit, in order to speed up progress.

All of these issues have arisen due to the conflicting needs of the pharmaceutical industry, which we rely on to develop cures, and the patients who need them - put simply, wealth vs health.

We are calling on the UK Government to:

acknowledge the conflicting goals of those developing cancer drugs and those who need them
better regulate the pharmaceutical industry to protect cancer patients' interests
ensure that cancer drug prices reflect costs and the public contribution to their discovery
find ways to reduce the costs of bringing new cancer drugs to market to ease prices
publicly fund promising cancer treatments that fail to attract private investment
work with the World Health Organisation to consider alternative drug development models
to work with other countries to agree a goal and timeframe to cure the majority of cancers

How You Can Help

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Sign Our Petition

Please sign our petition calling on the UK Government to reform the whole process for developing cancer drugs, so that it focuses on maximising benefits for patients rather than profits.
This is the single most important thing you can do to help. more

Share Our Campaign

This issue is probably the single biggest obstacle to beating cancer sooner, so please help us to raise awareness of it as widely as possible by sharing the link to this website with your friends and family. The more awareness we can raise, the more hope there is for change. more

Write To Your MP

Please write to your MP to help us get these issues discussed in parliament. It's very easy to do this online and we have a sample letter you can use if you wish. more

Get Involved

Do you have expertise that you can offer to help the campaign? We need help with promotion, lobbying, research and funding to help build awareness and get our message across, as well as with the day to day running of the campaign. more

From the Blog

Cancer Drug Benefits Are Overhyped

Barely a month goes by without a newspaper headline hailing the latest “Major cancer breakthrough”, but dig beneath the media hype and you’ll discover the shocking reality that new cancer drugs for most cancers are only expected to improve patient survival by just 2.7 months on average. more

Cancer Research Donations Wasted By Inefficient R&D System

Is Cancer Research Money Well Spent?

When we give money to cancer research charities like Cancer Research UK we expect that money to be used efficiently but less than 2% is likely to be spent on researching new drugs that can be given to NHS cancer patients as a routine treatment. more

£99 Cancer Drug Being Sold for £83,000

Shocking new evidence has come to light of massive profiteering from cancer drugs - one cancer drug that costs only £99 to make is being being sold for up to £83,000, despite R&D costs being paid back over 10 years years ago. more

NHS Can’t Afford Half New Cancer Drugs

Half of new cancer drugs are too pricey for the NHS due to profiteering by drug companies. The Government is choosing to leave patients to die early rather than exercise its legal powers to obtain the newer, more effective drugs from a cheaper alternative source. more

95% of Promising Cancer Research Fails

The British public pays £2.5bn a year towards the cost of developing new drugs for cancer, but 95% of cancer research discoveries don't work in patients and half of the 5% that do the NHS can't afford. Is this money well spent? more

Are We Being Misled On Cancer Progress?

Evidence has come to light that the public may be being misled about our progress on beating cancer and that progress is almost certainly not as good as that implied by the much touted cancer survival statistics. more

Cancer Drugs Fund Was Short-Sighted

The Cancer Drugs Fund was put forward by David Cameron during the 2010 General Election campaign – a tempting olive branch for many cancer patients desperate for expensive life-saving drugs but in reality a short-sighted, vote-winning gesture that has helped to make drugs even more unaffordable in the longer term. more

Cancer Drugs Sold for 25 Times R&D Costs

A new medical study has found that the latest new cancer drugs are being sold for many times the costs spent developing them; resulting in mega profits for the drug companies who own them and restricted access to these drugs for only the wealthiest patients and healthcare providers. more

Cancer Drug Costs Could Be Halved

The cost of developing new cancer drugs could be halved at least if we cooperated across the world to publicly fund R&D, using cheaper finance, eliminating wasteful duplication and developing drugs for public benefit not for profit. more

Comments from Supporters

These are a selection comments from people supporting the campaign. Help us tell those in Government that this is an issue that people care about, which is costing lives and causing unnecessary suffering: Sign the Petition Now

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Louise CrawleyPetition

Disgusting that there are people benefiting out of peoples misery with cancer. It is an evil evil thing. My mum is going through it now and I would give every inch of my being if it meant helping her get better.

Maggie Carter

I'm sick of drug companies holding lives to ransom. I'm sick of the government allowing it to happen.

Bob NewmanFacebook

Research takes a large amount of money but it is immoral to charge extortionate amounts such as this. The bosses of these Corporations need taking down a peg or two. Profits are fine but these percentages are ridiculous!

Sandra Sherriff-MeyerPetition

Cancer treatments should be actively researched and made available for all types of cancers, not only those with substantial commercial profit for pharmaceutical companies. Cancer doesn't discriminate. Neither should they.

Jennifer BratleyFacebook

Lost for words! Peoples lives are more important than profit, what happened to humanity ?

Kat PetrovicPetition

It is an outrage that we should have to petition for this. The government and we the people should be ashamed to let this go on.

Hayley NealePetition

I couldn't agree with this more. We hear about 'break-throughs' in the media so often and yet those that need it rarely get the benefits of it.

Ann ChadwickPetition

My husband is one of these people. It makes me so angry. Greed before need. I believe in Karma.

Nina ScothernPetition

I watched my mother in law die a slow and painful death from ovarian cancer. I am disgusted with profits big pharma makes from the suffering of individuals

Rachel OwenPetition

Most of this research is paid for by Cancer Research - money raised by the public, myself included. Why should we raise money only to have it hoarded by drug companies who charge too much. NHS is in crisis! These unfair profit margins and mark ups should be investigated and not be allowed to continue.

Yvonne KirkhamFacebook

Cancer research has contributed towards how these drug companies find the solution. The price is their snub to the sufferers.

Carole CorePetition

When we support cancer are doing just that - not for any other reason than to find cures and make our loved ones better. Forget the profiteering that may be in involve - i's not for them we do it.

Janine GovePetition

There seem to have been many cancer breakthroughs in recent years, that have flared into a bright hope before fading away without ever becoming mainstream treatment. To learn that in treating seriously ill people, profit is put before innovation and progression, has left me appalled at the sheer waste of top notch research and the charity that funds it.

Marion RyanPetition

While cancer patients continue accepting and taking these useless drugs , no cures will be found...why would there!!

James HobsonPetition

I think it is diabolical, unfair and a damned disgrace to charge such overinflated prices for medication for people who are in need of this to save their lives. Companies charging such prices should be prosecuted as it's nothing short of robbery and fraud.

Maureen HendersonPetition

These drugs should be for everyone not just the rich.

Robert HallidayFacebook

Why is this being allowed to happen, how can these drugs cost so much they say they need research but surely once they, develop the drugs it cant cost that much to reproduce, they are heartless?

Louise CartwrightPetition

You can't put a price on someone's life. A few extra years could mean that they could watch a child grow, get married, meet a grandchild, and lots more.

Keith BennettPetition

Why IS such important work in the hands of private companies ????? Government wastes billions of OUR Money on weapons research, & on propping up corrupt regimes. Can`t WE fund Cancer research & give REAL hope of affordable treatment to seriously ill People?

Shirley NyeFacebook

Bloody criminal, your life is worth nothing today, it's all about the money!!

Joanne AllmanPetition

The elephant in the room is the egregious conflict of interest between health and profit which has driven the development of ever more expensive, toxic drugs to the exclusion of more natural and affordable approaches.

Kenneth GrayPetition

Corporate greed over people, when are all MP's going to do their job and put a stop to this extortion of the ill and dying?

Louise DickinsonPetition

I believe those who are profiteering from the sale of these drugs at over- inflated prices have blood on their hands, much the same as any murderer. They have the means to save lives but choose not to do so. Shame on them!

Deb ParsonsPetition

It is essential to raise public awareness and to insist that the government act to enable life saving drugs to be affordable and available

Lynn NownePetition

It is so wrong to do this to people suffering in this way. Pure greed !!

Maxine CookPetition

It is a travesty of humanity to deny people the best shot at survival because keeping them sick pays more.

Chris PhillipsFacebook

People give freely to these charities to help with research and development, so that it can help people with this awful illness. It makes me so cross that the money grabbing CEO's of the drug companies, think they can charge thousands of pounds so that their shareholders and their company can line their pockets at the expense of the suffering.

Sue De CesarePetition

We have an epidemic in the UK which is being ignored. Integrative Medicine is the answer but no one is listening. I hope this creates some big noise which the government cannot ignore.

Heather TurnballFacebook

Absolutely disgusting, how do they get away with it?

Nick HughesPetition

What pharmaceutical companies are allowed to get away with is indescribably wrong. Morally wrong. Ethically wrong and it should be legally impossible to conduct themselves in this cold hearted profiteering lives where so much death can be laid directly at their feet.

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Cancer Cures Held Back By Pursuit of Profit

Facts and Figures

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Cancer Drugs Sold for 25 Times R&D Costs