Current status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 December 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) regarding its decision not to approve the targeted treatment (a) elacestrant and (b) capivasertib for secondary breast cancer, and what information it has on the SMC's reasons for not approving the use of each drug in NHS Scotland.
The SMC | Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) appraisal is undertaken independently of Scottish Ministers and is based on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of newly licensed medicines at a population level, ensuring value for both the NHS in Scotland and taxpayers.
Following a submission for (a) elacestrant (Korserdu®), as a treatment for postmenopausal women, and men, with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, the SMC published ‘not recommended’ advice in November 2025, and (b) capivasertib (Truqap®), as a treatment for adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast secondary breast cancer, the SMC published ‘not recommended’ advice in October 2025.
In both cases, the submitting pharmaceutical companies did not present a sufficiently robust economic analysis to gain acceptance. The SMC would welcome a resubmission from both companies at any time.