NICE recommends Otsuka's Jinarc for most common form of kidney disease

Final guidance from the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recomments Jinarc (tolvaptan) from Japanese drugmaker Otsuka (TYO: 4768) to treat autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD).

It is the first approved pharmaceutical therapy available in Europe for this indication, which is a chronic and progressive genetic disease causing cyst proliferation and growths in the kidneys. Otsuka says that half of people with this disease will require a kidney transplant or dialysis by the age of 54.

The NICE evaluated data including the Phase III TEMPO 3:4 Trial, the largest study ever undertaken in ADPKD. It took place over a three-year period, and demonstrated a significant reduction of 49% in the annual increase in total kidney volume for tolvaptan-treated patients, versus those in the placebo arm.