Price concession helps change NICE’s mind on Simponi

pharmafile | May 13, 2011 | News story | Sales and Marketing NICE, Simponi, TNF, merck sharp and dohme 

NICE has provisionally recommended Merck Sharp & Dohme’s Simponi for rheumatoid arthritis alongside other drugs in the TNF inhibitor class.

The draft ruling reverses the earlier ‘no’ ruling NICE gave in November last year, based on doubts about data and its cost.

Simponi costs £762.97 for a 50 mg pre-filled injection pen, with an estimated annual cost of £9,155.64.

This makes it more expensive than other anti-TNF drugs and considerably more than standard first line treatment, methotrexate.

The drug’s advantage over other anti-TNFs is that it is a subcutaneous injection given only once a month. Other anti-TNFs are given by infusion or more frequent injections.

Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) says this less frequent regime not only offers greater convenience, but also a lower level of injection-site reaction.

But after NICE’s initial rejection in November, Merck Sharp & Dohme agreed to make a concession on the drug’s cost. The deal means that a 100mg dose will cost the same as the 50mg, a gesture which helped NICE recommend the drug.

The guidelines put Simponi (golimumab) as a second line choice after conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) such as methotrexate.

NICE says Simponi should be used in the same way as other anti-TNF drugs including Abbott’s Humira (adalimumab) Pfizer’s Enbrel (etanercept) and Janssen’s Remicade (infliximab) – as set out in NICE technology appraisal 130.

Patients sometimes take an anti-TNF drug but fail to respond adequately. NICE guidance allows patients to try a second anti-TNF treatment, and the new appraisal has also added Simponi to this list. The drug must be used in conjunction with methotrexate, and in line with NICE guidance (appraisal guidance 195).

This draft guidance is now with consultees, who have the opportunity to appeal against the proposed guidance.

Dr Paul Robinson, MSD UK’s medical director, said: “We welcome NICE’s decision to issue a positive FAD [final appraisal determination] recommending Simponi as a treatment option for RA patients, as it offers patients and their clinicians an additional, more convenient therapeutic option. MSD is committed to offering patients a wider choice of treatments.”

Andrew McConaghie

Related Content

NICE recommends migraine treatment for NHS use

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has shared draft guidance recommending AbbVie’s …

GSK’s Jemperli recommended by NICE for endometrial cancer treatment

GSK has announced that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended …

NICE recommends SC treatment of AbbVie’s Tepkinly for patients with DLBCL

AbbVie has announced that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended …

Latest content