Bayer’s liver cancer drug not cost-effective, says NICE
pharmafile | August 19, 2016 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | Bayer, CDF, NICE, Nexavar, lung cancer
NICE has deemed Bayer’s liver cancer drug Nexavar (sorafenib) as not cost-effective. The drug is currently available on the Cancer Drugs Fund following NICE’s 2010 decision that it was not value for money. This review comes as part of part of the organisation’s revamp of the CDF.
Bayer has presented additional evidence as part of the appraisal, and the price of the drug has also been lowered since the organisation’s original review. Despite this, it ruled that there still considerable uncertainty regarding the drug’s overall survival benefit, and these uncertainties were not mitigated by the cost reduction.
Professor Carole Longson, director of the health technology evaluation centre at NICE said: “When we originally appraised sorafenib there were uncertainties in the cost-effectiveness analyses and it could not be considered value for money on the NHS. The company have revisited some of the evidence but significant uncertainties remain. We cannot recommend treatments if we are not absolutely sure that they both benefit patients and are priced in a way that maximises their prospect of being a cost-effective use of NHS resources.
“This decision will be disappointing for some patients. However we need to make sure the NHS makes the most of its resources in a fair and balanced way. We are open to working with the company to explore how uncertainties in the evidence base can be managed.”
Until final guidance is issued to the NHS, sorafenib will still be available to patients in the old CDF. Patients who already receive this drug will be able to continue their treatment.
Matt Fellows
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