In a change of heart, NICE recommends Opdivo for advanced renal cell cancer

21 October 2016

In a reversal of previous guidance, the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued final draft guidance which Bristol–Myers Squibb’s (NYSE: BMY) Opdivo (nivolumab) should be made available to people who have been previously treated for advanced renal cell cancer (RCC) – a type of kidney cancer.

The medicines cost-effectiveness watchdog’s appraisal committee noted that nivolumab usually causes fewer side effects than other treatments such as axitinib and everolimus. And, in trials, patients given nivolumab lived, on average, five months longer than those people taking everolimus.

Kidney cancer accounts for 4% of all new cases of cancer diagnosed in men, and just over 2% of all cancers in women in the UK. Hundreds of people will be eligible for nivolumab treatment.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK