NICE recommends against Celgene's drug for pancreatic cancer, saying cost does not justify benefit

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the helath coists watchdog for England and Wales, has recommended against routine funding of US biotech firm Celgene Corp’s (Nasdaq: CELG) Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel), to treat pancreatic cancer saying the cost of the drug does not justified the benefits compared to current treatments.

Sir Andrew Dillon, NICE chief executive, said: “We recognize that the development of new treatments for pancreatic cancer has been limited in recent years. Nab-paclitaxel is a new treatment but we must still carefully weigh up the benefits it can offer, particularly as there are comparable options already available in the NHS. Although it is more effective than one of the treatment options currently available, nab-paclitaxel is linked with more side effects. When we consider how these side effects will affect each individual and the fact that it is also more expensive, nab-paclitaxel cannot be considered an effective use of NHS resources.”

Wim Souverjins, general manager at Celgene UK & Ireland, said, in an emailed statement to The Pharma Letter: “Celgene is extremely disappointed by the NICE decision on Abraxane, which comes after a turbulent nine months of review, but we remain committed to searching for solutions for patients who are demanding this medicine. The process to secure reimbursement and ensure patient access to medicines, such as Abraxane in combination with gemcitabine in England, is not fit for purpose. Cancers with devastatingly high levels of unmet need, require a different threshold of consideration and until we have that, we will be denying terminal cancer patients access. Further, this decision is effectively sidelining English scientists in the fight against pancreatic cancer, as they will not have the option of Abraxane for future research efforts. It is our hope that such research could yield similar results as has been seen in breast cancer.”