NICE back Roche’s Tecentriq for Cancer Drug Fund
NICE have recommended Roche’s Tecentriq for use within the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) to treat advanced urothelial cancer in specific circumstances.
In final draft guidelines issued by the public body, Tecentriq is being backed for use in patients whose urothelial cancer has not yet been treated and who aren’t suitable for cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
At first the Institute’s appraisal committee ruled that the drug was not a cost-effective option for people who had already had chemotherapy, however, there was potential for the drug to be both clinically and cost effective for those who had not been treated.
NICE stated that stronger evidence was required to show the drug is both clinically and cost-effective in this setting. Thus, Roche were invited to submit a CDF proposal which should demonstrate plausible potential for cost effectiveness, detail how data collection will address the key clinical uncertainties, and state the likelihood that additional research will reduce uncertainty enough to support positive guidance in the future, amongst other points.
The proposal subsequently put forward by Roche laid out plans to address these uncertainties, how Tecentriq compares to other standard treatments and if the clinical benefit is enough to balance its cost, allowing its recommendation for use via the CDF, as per the conditions agreed in the confidential managed access agreement.
“I am pleased Roche has worked with us and NHS England to address the uncertainties raised by the committee. To have Atezolizumab as an option for people who cannot undergo other treatment for their urothelial cancer is a positive thing,” noted Professor Carole Longson, Director of the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation at NICE.
Tecentriq blocks PD-L1, an important ligand found on the surface of cancer cells that camouflage them from detection and destruction by the immune system, and demonstrated a median overall survival of 15.9 months in the IMvigor210 trial.
“We welcome the news that patients will now be able to access Atezolizumab via the Cancer Drugs Fund,” said Richard Erwin, General Manager, Roche UK.
“This demonstrates the importance of working collaboratively and flexibly with NICE and NHS England. Looking ahead, it is important that long-term access is achieved and we will be working with NICE to submit further evidence via our ongoing clinical trial programme, which will hopefully see Atezolizumab transition into traditional NHS access routes as soon as possible.”
The drug was approved by European regulators for previously-treated locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell cancer (NSCLC) and metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) last month.
Source: PharmaTimes