NICE backs Janssen's 'desperately needed' Crohn's disease drug

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the cost-effectiveness watchdog for England and Wales, has recommended Stelara (ustekinumab) in its Final Appraisal Determination (FAD) for adult patients with moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease.

This treatment, from US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) pharmaceutical arm Janssen, is now available on the National Health Service for patients who have had an inadequate response with, lost response to, or were intolerant to either conventional therapy or a TNFα inhibitor or have medical contraindications to such therapies.

The NICE guidance issued states: “The choice of treatment between ustekinumab or another biological therapy should be made on an individual basis after discussion between the patient and their clinician about the advantages and disadvantages of the treatments available. If more than one treatment is suitable, the least expensive should be chosen, taking into account administration costs, dosage and price per dose.”