AstraZeneca diabetes drug approved for use in Scotland
pharmafile | November 11, 2014 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Afinitor, AstraZeneca, Eylea, Onglyza, Perjeta, SMC, diabetes, type 2
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has shown AstraZeneca’s Onglyza (saxagliptin) the green light to be used with insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The announcement is the first time that the SMC has accepted a DPP-4 inhibitor in this combination with insulin for use in NHS Scotland.
“Today’s announcement by the SMC means that more patients will have access to this effective treatment option, providing increased choice for clinicians and patients in NHS Scotland when deciding on the most appropriate treatment alongside insulin,” says Dr Kevin Fernando, GP partner at North Berwick Health Centre.
Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease with most patients eventually requiring insulin; Onglyza provides an additional treatment option to help patients at this stage of their condition to maintain glycaemic control.
Around 221,500 people are diagnosed with type 2 in Scotland and it is anticipated that approximately 16,800 new cases of the disease are diagnosed each year in the country alone. NHS Scotland currently spends 10% of its budget on treating diabetes so it is hoped this new approval will ease some financial pressures.
According to Diabetes UK, a charity that recently received a £465,452 support grant from Centre for Social Action’s Innovation Fund for people with type 2 diabetes, an estimated 850,000 people in England will have diabetes by 2030. Today, an increasing number of children with type 1 diabetes are now developing type 2.
Lisa Anson, president of AstraZeneca UK and Ireland says: “Saxagliptin has one of the most robust data sets in type 2 diabetes, demonstrating clinically meaningful efficacy while also providing extensive insight into health outcomes beyond HbA1c.
“Together with the latest advice from the SMC, we hope that these data help clinicians feel confident in using saxagliptin in a broad range of patients, including those with renal impairment and other complications.”
Back in 2011 European regulators approved Onglyza for the use in more advanced cases when patients must use insulin to manage their blood sugar levels. The treatment was previously licensed to only treat type 2 diabetes patients to help keep their blood sugar levels low in combination with metformin, sulphonylurea or thiazolidinedione.
At the time Howard Hutchinson, chief medical officer at AZ, said this combination therapy gives doctors another option to help patients manage what is a chronic and progressive disease.
The Wales Medicines Strategy Group has also issued recommendations for the treatment’s use in Wales. Onglyza is among the most extensively studied anti-diabetic medications with over 17,000 patients with Type 2 diabetes being treated in various clinical trials.
More drugs approved for NHS Scotland
It has also been announced that the SMC has permitted the use of Novartis’ cancer drug Afinitor (everolimus) plus Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Yervoy (ipilimumab) for first-line treatment of advanced melanoma.
Eylea (aflibercept) from Bayer has also been given the nod for patients with the eye condition macular oedema. Sufferers will also be the first in Europe to have access to Bristol-Myers Squibb’s chronic hepatitis C treatment Daklinza (daclatasvir) through the health service.
Not making the cut though is Roche’s Perjeta (pertuzumab), the breast cancer drug was rejected because its cost per QALY was estimated at around £125,000, which was deemed too expensive to be considered.
“We know this decision will disappoint patients and clinicians alike as we understand the devastating impact of breast cancer,” says SMC chairman Jonathan Fox.
He went on: “NHS Scotland does not have infinite resources and companies are well aware of this.” Fox is encouraging Roche to make a resubmission for its breast cancer drug.
Tom Robinson
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