Revlimid set for UK launch
pharmafile | June 28, 2007 | News story | |Â Â Â
Revlimid, a new oral treatment for multiple myeloma has been approved in Europe and is set for imminent launch in the UK.
The EMEA (European Medicines Agency) has approved Celgene's orphan drug Revlimid (lenalidomide) in combination with standard therapy as a treatment for multiple myeloma sufferers who have received at least one prior therapy. The disease is the second most common blood cancer, accounting for 1% of all cancers and 2% of all cancer deaths.
Celgene is billing its drug as the first new pill for these cancer patients in the last 40 years and claims it doubles the survival rate of patients over the standard therapy (dexamethasone) alone. Moreover, the number of patients who completely responded to treatment was five times greater than standard, the company says.
Revlimid is a novel immunomodulatory agent from a group known as ImiDs. Its main competitor, the monotherapy injection Velcade (bortezomib), is another first-in-class, being a proteasome inhibitor which kills cancer cells by blocking enzymes which help regulate cell function and growth.
As well as emphasising the convenience of oral therapy, Celgene UK general manager David Allmond said the company will work with the NHS to justify the value of Revlimid to the healthcare system and would focus on communicating the benefits of Revlimid to the haematology community.
Professor Gareth Morgan, professor of haematology at The Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, said: "Currently, we have very few pharmacological interventions available to us to treat patients with multiple myeloma. The full approval of Revlimid in Europe is good news for both physicians and patients."
Multiple myeloma (also known as myeloma or plasma cell myeloma) is a cancer of the blood in which malignant plasma cells are overproduced in the bone marrow. Around 8,000 people have the disease in the UK, with 4,000 new cases every year causing 2,500 deaths per year. Nearly half of these patients will die in the first year and 80% within five years.
Celgene is also pushing for a European licence for Revlimid in patients with transfusion-dependent anaemia.
Janssen-Cilag's Velcade has been available in the UK since May 2004, but has suffered from slow uptake without a positive NICE appraisal.
After initially rejecting the drug, NICE is now ready to approve an innovative new money-back scheme for the NHS. The system would see Janssen-Cilag refunding the cost of the drug in patients who failed to respond to it.
Velcade costs around £18,000 per year and the manufacturer would refund the NHS the cost of four cycles of the drug once it is clear individual patients have not responded to treatment.
