Roche strikes deal over Tarceva price
pharmafile | November 17, 2008 | News story | Sales and Marketing |Â Â Roche, TaxotereÂ
NICE is set to recommend Roche's lung cancer treatment Tarceva after the company agreed to lower the drug's price.
The breakthrough comes 18 months after NICE first rejected Tarceva, and was achieved after Roche agreed to match the price of existing NICE-approved treatment Sanofi-Aventis' Taxotere.
The agreement is one of a growing number of pricing deals being struck by pharma companies and the UK government. NICE has refused a number of high profile cancer drugs in the last few years, but protests from patient groups have made the situation unsustainable.
This year both sides have been more willing to negotiate, and a number of companies have entered into price discussions with the Department of Health in exchange for access to the market.
The average cost for a course of treatment with Taxotere (docetaxel) is £6,714 and Roche has agreed to slightly undercut this cost by providing Tarceva (erlotinib) at £6,128 for a course of treatment.
Roche declined to say exactly how the pricing deal works, but it looks to be a victory for the company, as the new price cut represents a cut of less than 10% from its old price.
Tarceva is one of a handful of new, targeted cancer drugs which are taken as a pill, and designed to replace older intravenous chemotherapy treatments such as Taxotere.
NICE is set to publish its recommendation for Tarceva in treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the next few weeks, a move welcomed by Roche.
"If approved, this will be good news for patients," a spokesman for the company said. "For the first time they will have an alternative treatment to intravenous chemotherapy – they will be able to benefit from an oral, targeted treatment that extends life and improves quality of life."
Tarceva has fewer side effects (such as hair loss) compared to Taxotere and is more convenient to take, however NICE says it is slightly less effective than the older drug in prolonging the lives of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
NICE indicated that if Roche matched Taxotere's price it would recommend Tarceva, and thereby allow doctors to give patients the choice between the two treatments where appropriate.
The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation is one of the most prominent patient groups in the field, and it has been campaigning for Tarceva's approval for nearly two years.
The charity's medical director Jesme Fox said: "We are pleased to finally get an outcome and it is the right decision. Lung cancer is a devastating disease, and life extension and quality of life are of huge importance to patients.
"Tarceva has a lower toxicity profile than Taxotere and fewer side effects. It will provide patients with a choice – there are so few available for lung cancer."
NICE is scheduled to review two more drugs for NSCLC in 2009. In July, its appraisal of Merck Serono's Erbitux (cetuximab) is expected, followed by one for AstraZeneca's Iressa (gefitinib) in November.
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