NICE recommends Incivo for hepatitis C
pharmafile | March 16, 2012 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Incivo, Janssen, NICE, Victrelis, telaprevir
NICE is recommending Janssen’s hepatitis C pill Incivo for funding on the NHS in England.
The drug has bypassed the preliminary NICE stages and has gone straight to final draft guidance, with a decision expected by June.
The watchdog is recommending Incivo (telaprevir), in combination with Roche’s Pegasus (peginterferon alfa) and Copegus (ribavirin), as an option for the treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C in adults with compensated liver disease.
It is also for patients who are previously untreated or in whom previous treatment has failed, including people whose condition has relapsed, partially responded or did not respond.
Janssen’s rival drug Victrelis (boceprevir), made by Merck, also received a speedy review by NICE last week, and has been recommended for funding for the same licence.
Both drugs have impressed in Phase III trials, and have proved that they can clear a higher percentage of the virus in conjunction with Copegus and Pegasus, compared to using these treatments on their own.
Meindert Boysen, programme director technology appraisals at NICE, said: “The significant improvement in sustained virological response rates seen with telaprevir plus peginterferon alfa and ribavirin compared to peginterferon alfa and ribavirin alone […] represents a major benefit for people with chronic hepatitis C.
“The committee also acknowledged the significant public health impact that a sustained virological response can have in reducing transmission of the hepatitis C virus to uninfected people.
“We are pleased to be able to recommend telaprevir as a cost effective use of NHS resources, alongside boceprevir for which positive draft guidance was published last week.”
Janssen’s drug is priced at £1866.50 for a 1-week, 42-tablet pack – this means that the maximum cost to the NHS would be £22,398 for a 12-week course of therapy.
Merck’s drug is priced at £2,800 for a 28-day, 336-tablet pack and costs £30,800 for a 44-week course.
Both treatments will also need to be used alongside Roche’s injectable drugs, which add around £11,000 to the overall cost of each treatment.
Graham Foster, Professor of hepatology at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, said: “As a clinician, who has watched countless genotype-1 hep C patients face current standard treatment with a limited chance of success, I welcome this positive recommendation on the clinical and cost effectiveness of telaprevir.
“We have approved new treatments which significantly increase these patients chances of clearing the virus and offers some patients a shorter treatment duration. We must now ensure that patients are in a position to access the new antiviral treatments which offer them a very good chance of clearing the virus.”
Last month Janssen launched the MYINCIVO support programme in the UK to help patients using its drug, to keep on top of side effects and keep healthy.
This programme builds on Janssen’s hep C community site http://www.HelpEveryPersonC.co.uk/, which was launched last year.
This site provides interactive map data on the prevalence of hep C by locality, details of local support groups, treatment centres and stories from people living with the disease.
Ben Adams
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