NICE rejects Celegene’s Revlimid as second-line treatment
pharmafile | November 16, 2016 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Celegene, Revlimid
NICE has decided Celegene’s multiple myeloma growth engine Revlimid (lenalidomide) will not be offered to patients as a second line treatment. The new guidelines suggest that patients who have been treated with Janssen’s Velcade will not be offered the drug, with the decision based on costing.
Revlimid is currently approved for third-line treatment. The drug is covered by NICE for costing for the first 26 cycles of treatment, which would usually occur over the duration of two years. After this, the costing must be covered by Celegene.
However, in its latest application for second-line treatment, the drug was deemed to be likely to cost above £46,000 per year and therefore too high for NICE to support.
In a statement regarding the initial approval for Revlimid, NICE estimated that: “The number of new people eligible for treatment with lenalidomide is around 200 per year for the population of England. The cost impact for treating these people is estimated to be approximately £5.6 million for year 1 and £3 million for year 2.”
Being able to offer people Revlimid as a second line treatment would then have greatly increased the number of patients receiving the drug; a result that would have provided a modest boost Revlimid’s importance to Celgene. Revlimid was of significant importance for the positive third quarter revenue posted by Celgene, with its revenue jumping by 30%. Revlimid revenue is estimated to be $7 billion this and higher than $8 billion for the following year. This is due to the FDA expanding Revlimid’s label to include its use in first-line multiple myeloma patients.
Ben Hargreaves
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