NICE final yes for Zytiga and Tarceva
pharmafile | June 27, 2012 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Janssen, NHS, NICE, NSCLC, Roche, Tarceva, Zytiga
In final guidance published today, NICE is recommending two new drugs for patients with prostate and lung cancer.
Janssen’s Zytiga (abiraterone) is now recommended, in combination with prednisone or prednisolone, as a treatment option for castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer that has progressed on or after one docetaxel-containing therapy.
Roche’s Tarceva (erlotinib) is also recommended as an option for the treatment of people with locally advanced or metastatic EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Professor Carole Longson, director of the centre for health technology evaluation at NICE, said: “NICE recommends more than 80% of the drugs it appraises and we are very pleased to be able to add these two treatments to the list of options available to patients.
“During the consultation on the draft guidance the manufacturer of abiraterone submitted a revised patient access scheme providing the drug to the NHS at a discounted price, as well as further information on which patients with prostate cancer would benefit most and clarification on how many patients could receive the drug.
“These factors enabled the committee to revise its preliminary views and recommend the drug for use on the NHS.
“In the treatment of lung cancer, NICE has already recommended a drug called gefitinib as an option for the first line treatment of EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC, which is now the treatment that most patients receive. We are pleased to be able to recommend another treatment option for this stage of the disease.”
NICE was initially minded not to recommend Zytiga, saying in previous draft guidance that it was too costly for the NHS. The watchdog was attacked by several charities for its decision, but a confidential price cut by Janssen swayed NICE into a recommendation.
The list price of Zytiga is £2,930 for a 30-day supply of 120 tablets and is taken as four 250-mg tablets per day – this will be lower because of the patient access scheme.
NICE had also rejected Roche’s Tarceva in earlier guidance, again saying its cost was too high with an uncertain benefit. But in an increasingly frequent move, Roche also offered a patient access scheme, which allowed the watchdog to recommend the drug.
The cost of a pack of 30 (150mg) Tarceva tablets is just over £1,600, but again Roche’s patient access scheme will see this reduced to an amount that is confidential.
Speaking about the positive NICE decision for Zytiga, Martin Price, external affairs director at Janssen UK, said: “We are delighted with this positive recommendation. After the initial rejection Janssen has gone to significant lengths to find a solution that allows eligible patients to be treated with this innovative, UK discovered medicine, routinely on the NHS.
“We now look forward to working with the NHS over the coming months to make the transition to the new arrangements as smooth as possible”
Ben Adams
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