Look back on pharma news May 9-13

By Barbara Obstoj-Cardwell. Editor

The UK’s medicines cost-effectiveness watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has come in for a lot of criticism for negative decisions, particularly with regards to new cancer drugs, and last week’s rejection of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo was no exception.

Max Jacobs, an analyst at Edison Investment Research, commented:“NICE is really embracing the moniker ‘death panel’ in its rejection of revolutionary, life-saving drug, Opdivo, despite its unequivocally positive data for lung cancer and despite the fact that Bristol-Myers was offering to pay for treatment lasting over one year.  Opdivo offers lung cancer patients treatment that is significantly more effective than the current standard chemotherapy regimen but with far less side effects. Clearly NICE is focusing on the cost and not the benefit.”