Scotland denies access to Roche skin cancer drug Zelboraf, but OKs Novartis' Gilenya

Swiss drug major Roche (ROG SIX) says it is “extremely disappointed” that the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has decided not to make Zelboraf (vemurafenib) available for the treatment of BRAF mutation positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma. However, there was better news for Swiss rival Novartis (NOVN: VX0, with the SMC approving use of the company’s multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya (fingolimod).

Vemurafenib is the first licensed personalized medicine to extend the lives of these patients to over a year. This is the second negative decision by the SMC for patients in this disease area in just four months, leaving Scottish patients without access to the most effective treatments.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the equivalent watchdog for England, has also delayed making a decision of Zelboraf, last month calling on Roche to provide additional information on use of the drug (The Pharma Letter August 10). However, since its launch in February 2012, vemurafenib has been widely used by English clinicians through the cancer drugs fund, making it the new standard of care for BRAF mutation positive metastatic melanoma in England.