NICE recommends Humira as the first approved treatment for skin condition HD

UK medicines cost-effectiveness watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended US pharma major AbbVie’ (NYSE: ABBV) Humira(adalimumab) for the treatment of active moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) in adult patients with an inadequate response to conventional systemic HS therapy, as per the marketing authorization for adalimumab.

This is a change in position following draft guidance in which the NICE Appraisal Committee was minded not to recommend adalimumab and requested further analyses from the company. Following this latest recommendation, suitable patients in England and Wales should be able to access adalimumab on the National Health Service.

Humira is AbbVie’s mega-blockbuster arthritis drug, which has a range of additional indications in other inflammatory conditions and generated sales of over $14 billion in 2015.