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.

Please sign our petition to help change this (it only takes a few seconds) and share this with as many people as you can.
SIGN THE PETITION NOW

How else can I help?

"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

View Blog

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

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

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

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

£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

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

NHS Pays £0.5bn for Public Funded Drugs

Pharmaceutical companies are charging the NHS half a billion pounds a year for cancer treatments discovered with the help of public money. We are paying twice for new medicines. Figures released by the Missing Medicines coalition today (World Cancer Day) show that 3 out of the 5 most expensive cancer medicines brought by ... 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 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

Cancer Drugs Sold for Many Times R&D Costs

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

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

This page is having a slideshow that uses Javascript. Your browser either doesn't support Javascript or you have it turned off. To see this page as it is meant to appear please use a Javascript enabled browser.

Susanna WilliamsPetition

I am despondent about the race for profits by the pharma industry in seeking new cancer breaking drugs. I also am getting cynical about the UK's cancer charities and ask myself what are they doing with the millions of pounds they attract each year?

Wendy NealPetition

Its outrageous that cancer patients are suffering because of exorbitant prices of new drugs STOP IT NOW.

Carole AccorsiniFacebook

This is absolutely criminal! There must be a law against excessive profiteering, similar to the monopoly laws?! If not then there should be, and quickly, to save many more people dying unnecessarily!

Christine FooteFacebook

Sheer greed! A sad world we live in.

Malcolm WilsonPetition

People need these drugs to save their lives. Whilst I know it costs a lot to design, trial and manufacture, the price you charge is just disgraceful. How about showing a little humanity instead of fleecing dying families??

Yve CollinsPetition

A cure needs to be found that is effective, not one created for profit.

Alice HerronFacebook

This is shocking this is extortion and all should be named and shamed. Research is paid for by us all . The money we give to charity and the millions left by individuals for cancer research so anyone unfortunate enough to need these drugs should receive this treatment free always. We give billions of pounds to cancer research every year lets not forget this.

Linda McLayFacebook

What a bloody joke!! Shocking....profit over lives!!

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.

Maureen HendersonPetition

These drugs should be for everyone not just the rich.

Kathleen Barry

This government needs to get it's priorities right! Disgraceful what they are letting these drug companies get away with!

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.

John SpencePetition

This is criminal and should be rectified immediately.

Janet FirthPetition

I find the whole thing disgusting that the best is not available for everyone!

Maureen Allen

Drug companies hold people's lives in their hands. Their staff are paid a fortune and the NHS are held to ransom....how can they sleep at night??? Something has to be done and NOW

Ann CraughwellPetition

All drugs for cancer or any other illness need to be sold at a price that we the customer be that the NHS or private patients can afford and not make stupid amounts of profit for companies.

Lorraine MurphyPetition

My husband was forced to have chemotherapy which he didn't want in order to get the drug he needed, which cost a lot more - the chemotherapy didn't work.

Neil HunterPetition

This is completely immoral & needs sorting out, just like a lot more of the global corruption condoned by governments.

Diane GriffithsFacebook

This is so wrong in many ways...we know they keep researching new drugs and this needs funding but this sort off profit is obscene

Den CarterPetition

For too long the drugs industry has held the NHS to ransom. Time this practice ended.....human suffering should not be a commodity to trade in.

David HerbertFacebook

Once again the public who donate so selflessly are ripped off - utter greed and our government turn a blind eye.

Anthony ThomasPetition

Extreme profit from illness is disgusting.

Beverley ChristopherPetition

Curing the sick whatever the disease should not be an opportunity for few greedy people to make a fortune.

Vanessa ElaineFacebook

It's crazy! And it's this way everywhere. It's the same here in the US. They've gotten away with it way too long!

Ernest HaslamFacebook

Since 1998 we have been giving a donation EVERY MONTH to cancer research. When we found out a couple of years ago that this was going on we stopped giving to cancer research. We now give to a local charity who we know really need the money.

Catherine DavisPetition

Make the industry back off. Stop this behaviour now. It is stealing our loved ones. Please I beg you with all of me to put a stop to this.

Christine DunphyPetition

Get this changed Cameron. NOW!!!!!

Maxine CookPetition

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

Catherine RowenPetition

The greed of these companies is totally sickening.

Lorna BoyesPetition

It is a disgrace that this is happening. Our health is paramount, if it was up to the people of this country, we would do all we can to do the right thing.

prev next

charities - show your support by backing our campaign

Show Your Support - Add Your Charity

Visit our supporters page for links to our supporters' websites.

Cancer Cures Held Back By Pursuit of Profit

Facts and Figures

Latest Blog Post

NHS Pays £0.5bn for Public Funded Drugs