Negative NICE guidance for Roche's Avastin and B-MS/AstraZeneca's Forxiga

UK drugs watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published draft guidance today (February 1) on the use of Swiss drug major Roche’s (ROG: SIX) Avastin (bevacizumab) for treating advanced ovarian cancer that has returned six months or more after initial treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy (platinum-sensitive disease).

Avastin is one of Roche’s top three blockbuster cancer drugs, and generated 2012 sales of 5.76 billion Swiss francs ($6.25 billion; The Pharma Letter January 31).

The draft guidance for this indication - which focuses on treating the first recurrence of the disease and also includes fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer - does not recommend the use of the drug (when used with the chemotherapy agents, gemcitabine and carboplatin), as a cost-effective treatment for the National Health Service. However, it does say that people currently receiving this treatment combination should be able to continue until they and their clinician consider it appropriate to stop. This draft guidance has now been issued for consultation: NICE has not yet published final guidance to the NHS.