UK's NICE turns down PharmaMar's Yondelis and GlaxoSmithKline's Arzerra

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) gave another couple of negative opinions for use of new cancer therapies on the National Health Service in England and Wales, with the drugs watchdog issuing guidance on Spanish drugmaker Zeltia (ZEL: MC) subsidiary PharmaMar’s Yondelis (trabectedin) and UK pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline’s (LSE: GSK) Arzerra (ofatumumab).

The NICE said in draft guidance on Friday that it remains unable to recommend Yondelis for relapsed ovarian cancer due to continued concerns over how well the drug works compared with the most commonly-used treatments. This is now open for consultation.

Sir Andrew Dillon, NICE Chief Executive, said: “To accurately tell whether a particular treatment would be a good use of NHS resources, the evidence needs to show how well it works compared with the more commonly-used treatments. In the case of relapsed platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer, this would be platinum-based chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not compare trabectedin with this type of treatment and the data that was submitted as evidence was not considered robust. This means that we cannot be sure that trabectedin extends patients' lives for longer than the most routinely used treatments currently available.”