NICE draft guidance backs Xeljanz for some RA patients

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published draft guidance recommending US pharma giant Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) Xeljanz (tofacitinib) for some people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The draft guidance recommends tofacitinib as an option for treating severe active RA in adults whose disease hasresponded inadequately to intensive therapy with a combination of conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). It is also recommended in adults with severe RA who have had an inadequate response to, or who cannot have other DMARDs, including at least one biological DMARD.

The company has agreed a patient access scheme that will reduce the cost of tofacitinib to the National Health Service, details of which are commercial in confidence, said the NICE, the medicines cost-effectiveness watchdog for England and Wales.