NICE recommends another new skin cancer drug, GSK’s Tafinlar

UK health costs watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued final guidance recommending UK pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline’s (LSE: GSK) Tafinlar (dabrafenib for the treatment of melanoma which has spread or cannot be completely removed by surgery, and which tests positive for the BRAF V600 mutation.

Tafinlar was made available for metastatic melanoma patients in England early this year, after it was approved by NHS England to be routinely funded by the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF; The Pharma Letter February 4).

Commenting on the guidance, NICE Center for Health Technology Evaluation director Carole Longson said: “For a long time the treatments available for skin cancer which has spread have been very limited. However, in recent years a number of breakthrough treatments that potentially significantly improve the prognosis for some people with malignant melanoma have become available. NICE has already recommended vemurafenib and ipilimumab and we are pleased to add dabrafenib to the list of options available for this type of skin cancer. NICE was able to publish this final guidance quickly and speed up access – in less than 3 months since the committee first met to discuss the treatment”