NICE recommends two Novartis cancer treatments
pharmafile | December 6, 2011 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Glivec, Novartis, Sprycel, Tasigna
Two of Novartis’ cancer drugs have been recommended by NICE for the first line treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) – a rare condition affecting only around 560 people in the UK each year.
The new draft guidance sees Tasigna (nilotinib) given the nod for CML and Glivec (imatinib) confirmed as standard care – but Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Sprycel (dasatinib) has missed out.
Novartis’ willingness to lower the price of Tasigna was a key factor in this decision: both it and Sprycel cost over £30,000 per patient per year and, as CML is a chronic condition, sufferers require treatment for a long period of time.
Although there are no trials directly comparing Tasigna and Sprycel, NICE’s committee said both would be equally effective – which left price as the only difference.
The watchdog says the size of Novartis’ discount remains ‘confidential’, although a 10% reduction in drug price is not uncommon in patient access schemes.
It is a stark lesson in the importance of cost effectiveness, as recently as May this year NICE turned down Tasigna and Sprycel to treat CML.
At that time it also turned down the higher dose form of Glivec, which is licenced to treat a form of stomach cancer, but costs more than £40,000 per year, per patient, according to NICE.
But its new draft recommendation cements Glivec’s place for first line treatment of CML at a standard dose (400mg).
“The new draft recommendations reaffirm the use of imatinib as a cost effective use of NHS resources, and we are also very pleased to be able to add a further treatment option for these patients, by recommending nilotinib,” said NICE chief executive Sir Andrew Dillon.
Patients who have previously become resistant to Glivec have found their options on the NHS limited to treatment with interferon-alfa, hydroxycarbamide or a bone marrow transplant.
Adam Hill
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