NICE U-turn means it now recommends Bayer prostate cancer drug for routine NHS use

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has today issued draft final guidance recommending German pharma major Bayer’s (BAYN: DE) Xofigo (radium-223 dichloride) as an option for treating prostate cancer, reversing an earlier decision not to back the drug.

When radium-223 was previously appraised by the NICE, the medicines cost-effectiveness watchdog for England and Wales, it was only recommended for people who had already received docetaxel treatment. It was not recommended for people for whom docetaxel was not suitable. This meant people who had not received docetaxel or for whom docetaxel was not suitable had to access radium-223 through the cancer drugs fund (CDF).

Following the decision to reform the CDF, NICE has been assessing the clinical and cost effectiveness of drugs currently in the old CDF.