Mixed NICE draft guidance for two prostate cancer treatments

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the medicines watchdog for England and Wales, has launched public consultations on draft recommendations for two separate prostate cancer drugs. The guidance makes recommendations on whether or not the treatments should be routinely funded by the National Health Service.

NICE is recommending German pharma major Bayer’s (BAYN: DE) Xofigo (radium-223 dichloride) as a treatment for some people with prostate cancer which has stopped responding to hormone therapy (known as hormone relapsed) and has spread to the bone (bone metastases).

The draft guidance says the Bayer drug appears to be particularly effective for those who have already been treated with the chemotherapy drug, docetaxel. It also says the drug should only be prescribed if the company makes the treatment available at a discounted rate.

NICE Health Technology Evaluation centre director carole Longson said: “Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and is responsible for more than 1 in 10 male cancer deaths. It is important that the NHS can provide these people with affordable treatments that will make the most difference to their lives. We are pleased that the evidence for radium-223 dichloride was strong enough to issue a provisional recommendation. The information provided by Bayer suggests that radium-223 is effective in delaying the progression of prostate cancer and can prolong survival. The evidence also suggests that radium-223 has similar effectiveness to abiraterone.”

But not recommending Ferring’s Firmagon

Meanwhile, NICE has issued draft guidance not recommending Firmagon (degarelix depot), manufactured by privately-held Swiss company Ferring Pharmaceuticals - to treat advanced, hormone dependent prostate cancer. The draft NICE guidance says it is not a cost-effective drug compared with the currently available standard treatment - LHRH agonists - and there is also no way of identifying the people who would benefit the most from it.