NICE recommends Erbitux for bowel cancer

2 March 2017

Erbitux (cetuximab) is closer to being available on the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) as an option for RAS wild type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

In a final appraisal determination, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the cost-effectiveness watchdog for England and Wales, has recommended this monoclonal antibody, from German pharma firm Merck KGaA (MRK: DE), for first-line treatment of adult patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) who express mCRC, in combination with FOLFOX (5-fluorouracil, folinic acid and oxaliplatin) or FOLFIRI (5-fluorouracil, folinic acid and irinotecan).

More than 22,000 new cases of patients are diagnosed with late-stage or metastatic colorectal cancer in the UK each year and about half of these have RAS wild-type tumors.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK