UK's NICE not to recommend Roche's Tarceva for NSCLC and Novartis' Afinitor rejected for kidney cancer, with both drugmakers to appeal

In what is a further disappointment for Swiss drug major Roche (ROG: VX), the UK’s drug watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued a second consultation document which does not recommend the use of the firm’s Tarceva (erlotinib)  as a maintenance treatment for people with non-small-cell lung cancer who have had first line treatment and their disease has remained stable, claiming it is too expensive.

NICE cost-based decisions, particularly with respect to cancer drugs, have come under considerable criticism, and just this month the UK Coalition government announced plans to deny the agency the ability to make price judgements and only be allowed to adjudicate on safety and efficacy, albeit this is unlikely to come effect until 2014 (The Pharma Letter November 2).

"We will challenge this decision," said John Melville, general manager of Roche UK. "But in the interim period the Department of Health has recognized the need to address issues such as this with the launch of the Cancer Drugs Fund, which enables oncologists to make treatment decisions based on clinical judgment rather than on a medicine's NICE approval status," he added.