UK's NICE backs NHS use of GlaxoSmithKline's kidney cancer drug Votrient but again turns down Roche's Avastin for breast cancer

The UK’s drug watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) yesterday issued final guidance, approving the use of drug giant GlaxoSmithKline’s (LSE: GSK) Votrient (pazopanib) as a first-line treatment option for people with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) under the National Health Service.

This follows an earlier opinion recommending the drug as a first-line treatment option for people with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have not previously received cytokine therapy and who are of Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-1, on the basis that GSK provides the agreed patient access scheme (The Pharma Letter December 24, 2010).

Patients can often suffer delays in being able to access innovative cancer medicines, as the full clinical value typically evolves over time as further studies on the treatment’s benefits are completed. GSK says it believes that patients should be able to access these treatments as soon as they are available, and to facilitate this, proposed an innovative and flexible approach to pricing.