Positive NICE news for Gilenya for MS and Incivo for hep C

There was good news from the UK drugs watchdog the Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) this morning (March 16), when the agency announced recommendations for multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya (fingolimod) from Swiss drug major Novartis (NOVN: VX) reversing an earlier decision - and hepatitis C agent Incivo (telaprevir) from a unit of US health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).

In its final draft guidance, the NICE outlines its plans to recommend fingolimod, the first pill-based medicine to help reduce the number of relapses for some adults who have a particular type of multiple sclerosis. This positive recommendation is a change from NICE’s previous draft guidance last December and follows a public consultation during which Novartis and clinicians provided additional information and analyses.

The draft document – or final appraisal determination - recommends Gilenya as a treatment option for some adults who have highly active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS); this is a type of the condition characterised by periods when symptoms worsen and then improve. Specifically, the NICE provisionally recommends the treatment for adults who have an unchanged or increased relapse rate or ongoing severe relapses compared to the previous year, despite them taking other drugs such as beta interferons. The provisional recommendation relates to a subgroup of the population for which fingolimod is licensed.