Pharma&’s ovarian cancer therapy approved for use by NHS Scotland

Charlie Blackie-Kelly | October 29, 2025 | News story | |  Pharma&, Rubraca, Scottish Medicines Consortium, nhs scotland, oncology, ovarian cancer 

Pharma& has announced that its treatment for ovarian cancer, Rubraca (rucaparib), has been accepted by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) as a first-line maintenance therapy for patients in Scotland.

Following the approval, Rubraca is now available as a monotherapy for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with advanced (FIGO Stages III and IV) high-grade epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer who have achieved a complete or partial response following completion of first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.

The SMC’s decision was supported by results from the randomised, double-blind, phase 3 ATHENA trial. In the ATHENA-MONO arm of the study, rucaparib was assessed as a monotherapy maintenance treatment in 538 patients with newly diagnosed advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. The treatment demonstrated statistically significant improvements in progression-free survival (PFS) compared with placebo. The safety profile observed in the study was consistent with both the current US and European licences for rucaparib.

“Today’s acceptance of rucaparib as a first-line maintenance treatment by the Scottish Medicines Consortium marks another step forward in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer,” said Frank Rotmann, co-founder and managing director, pharma&. “We are dedicated to ensuring that all eligible patients in Scotland can access and potentially benefit from rucaparib.”