Venclyxto combination gets NHS funding

Just a couple of months after it won European approval, Venclyxto (venetoclax) has been recommended for routine use alongside rituximab on the National Health Service (NHS) in England for previously-treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Venclyxto, marketed under the name Venclexta in the USA, is being developed by US drugmaker AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) and Roche (ROG: SIX), while rituximab is also from the Swiss pharma giant, which markets it under the names Rituxan and MabThera.

The recommendation from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is based on the MURANO Phase III clinical trial, in which the combination reduced the risk of disease progressive or death by 83% percent compared to a standard of care chemo-immunotherapy regimen of bendamustine plus rituximab.