NICE preliminary guidance negative on Celgene’s pomalidomide for multiple myeloma

UK medical costs watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued preliminary draftguidance not recommending US biotech firm Celgene’s (Nasdaq: CELG) Imnovid (pomalidomide) for treating multiple myeloma after two previous treatments including lenalidomide and bortezomib.

NICE says that Celgene did not provide sufficient evidence of the effectiveness of the drug compared with current care. Even by using the company’s analyses, the drug, also known as Imnovid, did not offer enough benefit to justify its high price. The Scottish Medicines Consortium, the NICE equivalent for Scotland, recently came to a  similar conclusion for blood cancer drug Imnovid.

Although multiple myeloma is incurable, there are a number of treatment options to help slow the progress of the disease and improve quality of life. The choice of treatment would differ for each individual, but NICE recommends thalidomide for most patients as a first line treatment. NICE also recommends bortezomib for people who are unable to take thalidomide and also as an option after the first treatment has stopped working. In people who have had at least two prior therapies NICE recommends lenalidomide. This appraisal considers the use of pomalidomide for treating multiple myeloma after third or subsequent relapse.