UK's NICE backs Roche's MabThera for first-line maintenance of follicular lymphoma

24 May 2011

The UK’s drug rationing watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) today issued a positive Final Appraisal Determination (FAD), recommending extended use of Swiss drug major Roche’s (ROG: SIX) already blockbuster antibody MabThera (rituximab, also marketed as Rituxan) as a first-line maintenance treatment for patients with follicular lymphoma (FL).

For the first time, clinicians in England and Wales will be able to offer previously untreated patients an active therapy to extend their remission time following response to first-line induction therapy - a combination of rituximab and chemotherapy.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) granted approval for rituximab as a first-line maintenance therapy for patients in Scotland in February 2011. The publication of a final guidance from the NICE is anticipated in June. The drug generated sales of 1.56 billion Swiss francs ($1.78 billion) in the first quarter of this year, up 7% year-on-year.

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