Research charity welcomes NICE recommendation on prostate cancer drug abiraterone

The UK cost-effectiveness watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended abiraterone for some prostate cancer patients in a move described as “a big victory for men” by London-based charity The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR).

NICE’s recommendation is a change from its previous stance and comes after new evidence was submitted by Janssen-Cilag, a subsidiary of US drug giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), which markets abiraterone as Zytiga.

Paul Workman, chief executive of ICR, which discovered abiraterone, said: “We’re extremely pleased. This is a big victory for men in England with prostate cancer, and means they will finally catch up with the US, Europe and indeed Scotland in being able to access abiraterone earlier in the course of treatment. Abiraterone was discovered at the ICR’s laboratories in London, and it’s great that men with advanced cancer who are treated on the NHS will now routinely receive a drug that allows them to live longer and delay chemotherapy.”