Novartis fails to sway NICE with Afinitor deal
pharmafile | November 26, 2010 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Afinitor, Kidney cancer, NICE, Novartis, advanced renal cell carcinoma, everolimus
Novartis has failed to convince NICE that its revised patient access scheme for Afinitor would make the kidney cancer drug a cost-effective choice for use by the NHS.
Novartis’ Afinitor (everolimus) is being appraised as a second line treatment for advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) after the failure of Pfizer’s RCC drug Sutent.
Novartis had originally put forward a deal to the Department of Health in which the first course of Afinitor treatment would be free to the NHS with a further 5% discount thereafter.
NICE rejected this in its final appraisal determination (FAD) but Novartis submitted a new patient access scheme – which the Swiss pharma firm has kept under wraps – meaning NICE undertook a second FAD to take into account this new information.
This new scheme was still not enough to sway the cost-effectiveness body, which today rejected it once more.
Sir Andrew Dillon, chief executive at NICE, said: “NICE asked the independent appraisal committee to consider the newly amended patient access scheme and a further cost effectiveness analysis that NICE asked the manufacturer to provide.
“However, the committee felt that there was still too much uncertainty around how cost effective everolimus is to enable the committee to recommend the drug.
“We know that patients with renal cancer want to try all the treatment options and are disappointed not to be able to recommend everolimus as a second line treatment option.”
Clinical evidence suggests that Afinitor increased survival by more than three months compared with best supportive care.
Afinitor was approved in the EU last year as a second line treatment but fits into a busy market.
Pfizer currently markets both Sutent and Torisel for metastatic forms of RCC and GlaxoSmithKline’s Votrient was recently approved by European regulators for the same indication.
The draft guidance on Afinitor is now with consultees and is available at NICE’s website.
Ben Adams
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