Roche’s Perjeta secures NICE approval in adjuvant HER2+ metastatic breast cancer

pharmafile | February 15, 2019 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing |  NICE, Perjeta, Roche, pharma 

NICE has announced its decision to authorise the use of Roche’s Perjeta (pertuzumab) on the NHS for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer after surgery in patients whose disease has spread to their lymph nodes, offering a new treatment option for around 2,700 UK patients.

The decision was based on data showing that the combination of Perjeta, Herceptin and chemotherapy resulted in an increased proportion of patients who did not see their cancer spread. However, NICE also noted that there was not enough data supplied to support the efficacy of the combination in extending patient survival times, or even that it could it all.

Roche’s revised economic model submitted to NICE placed the cost-effectiveness estimate below £20,000 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY), allowing the organisation to recommend it as a worthy use of NHS resources.

“We’re pleased that we’ve been able to work with the company to address the uncertainties of pertuzumab as a treatment for early HER2-positive breast cancer,” commented Meindert Boysen, Director of the Centre for Health Technology Assessment at NICE. “Their response means that people who have a high risk of their cancer returning now have a new treatment option that could reduce the risk of that happening.”

Matt Fellows