Janssen’s Sirturo to be commissioned by NHS England

NHS England has published a new Clinical Commissioning Policy making Sirturo (bedaquiline) routinely available on the National Health Service.

The drug should be used as part of an appropriate combination regimen for the treatment of pulmonary multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in adult patients when an effective treatment regimen cannot otherwise be composed for reasons of resistance or tolerability, says Janssen, a UK subsidiary of US health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), which markets Sirturo.

This new policy means that clinicians in England will be able to access and prescribe bedaquiline more easily, via a registry, in order to monitor its use as well as patient outcomes, the company noted.