NICE says Merck head and neck cancer drug Erbitux is not cost-effective

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), in draft guidance released this morning, said that head and neck cancer drug Erbitux (cetuximab) does not represent value for money. The drug is marketed by Germany’s Merck KGaA (MRK: DE), which has marketing rights outside of the USA and Canada.

The NICE, the medicines cost-effectiveness watchdog for England and Wales, originally published guidance in 2009 which said cetuximab was not cost effective for treating recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell cancer of the head and neck.It was later made available through the Cancer Drug Fund (CDF). The NICE is reconsidering cetuximab as part of its program to appraise drugs that are currently available on the CDF.

As part of this reappraisal Merck presented further evidence which was not included in its original submission and reduced the number of patients who would be eligible for the drug to those with mouth cancer. A discount to the price of cetuximab also means that it now costs less than at the time of the original appraisal.