NICE recommends Takeda's multiple myeloma triplet therapy

A ground-breaking oral treatment that could increase survival by 10 months has been given the green light for patients with incurable blood cancer in England and Wales.

The UK medicines cost-effectiveness watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Ninlaro (ixazomib) with lenalidomide and dexamethasone as an option for treating relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) in adult patients who have received two or three lines of therapy, in a final appraisal document (FAD), the drug’s marketer Takeda (TYO: 4502) announced today.

According to the Japanese pharma giant, ixazomib is the first and only oral proteasome inhibitor licensed in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of adult patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy. Thus far, it has been available through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) since December 2017 for patients who have received two or three prior therapies and, to date, has been used to treat over 4,000 patients in England alone. Nearly 6,000 people in the UK are diagnosed each year and at any one time, there are around 24,000 people living with multiple myeloma in the UK.