UK’s NICE does not recommend Janssen’s Stelara for psoriatic arthritis

Final draft guidance from the UK health care costs watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), published today, does not recommend US health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) subsidiary Janssen’s Stelara (ustekinumab) for psoriatic arthritis, confirming the negative draft guidance issued last year (The Pharma Letter December 27, 2013).

The NICE has previously backed Stelara as a treatment option under the National Health Service in England and Wales for adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis (TPL September 23, 2009).

The NICE Independent Appraisal Committee examined the clinical and cost effectiveness of using ustekinumab alone or in combination with methotrexate, for treating active psoriatic arthritis in adults when the response to previous non-biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy has been inadequate. The draft guidance is now with consultees, who have the opportunity to appeal against it. Until the NICE issues final guidance, NHS bodies should make decisions locally on the funding of specific treatments.