
NICE approves trio of cancer drugs
pharmafile | July 28, 2010 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Iressa, MabThera, NICE, Xeloda
NICE has given its final recommendation to a trio of drugs for the treatment of various cancers, which means the NHS must provide funding and resources for them in the next three months.
Roche’s Xeloda (capecitabine) is recommended, in combination with a platinum-based regimen, for the first-line treatment of inoperable advanced gastric cancer.
AstraZeneca’s Iressa (gefitinib) gets the nod for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer if they test positive for the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK) mutation.
And another Roche brand, MabThera (rituximab), is recommended in combination with chemotherapy drugs fludarabine and cyclophosphamide, for the treatment of relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
The exception to this is when the condition has not previously responded to fludarabine or has relapsed within six months of treatment – or the patients has previously been treated with MabThera.
Roche’s Xeloda
Xeloda is more expensive to buy than current first-line standard fluorouracil, but is cheaper to give as it is administered orally rather than given via an infusion pump.
The drug, which netted $1.2 billion for Roche last year, is already licensed to treat numerous cancers including metastatic breast cancer and colorectal cancer.
In February, the Committee on Human Medicinal Products recommended it in combination with Sanofi’s Eloxatin (oxaliplatin) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with early colon cancer.
AstraZeneca’s Iressa
“NICE has already recommended a number of treatments for non-small lung cancer,” said Dr Carole Longson, health technology evaluation centre director at NICE.
“Gefitinib has now been added to this list of treatment options, with the advantage that it is taken in tablet form, meaning it can be taken at home, and would allow patients to carry on with normal daily activities.”
AstraZeneca’s patient access scheme, whereby the drug is provided at no cost for those who are treated for up to two months and at a single fixed cost irrespective of the duration of treatment for all other patients, was a factor in NICE’s decision too.
Iressa also showed longer progression-free survival and similar effects in terms of overall survival compared with the current standard treatment of Lilly’s Alimta (pemetrexed) in combination with chemotherapy agent cisplatin.
Roche’s MabThera
After an appeal earlier this year, MabThera in combination will also be available to patients who have already been treated with it at a lower dose in clinical trials.
For others who have received it outside of trials the drug, in combination with chemotherapy, is recommended for research purposes “because of a lack of evidence relating to the treatment’s efficacy in those instances”, explains NICE clinical and public health director Peter Littlejohns.
Adam Hill
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