Reports suggest that Roche AG’s cancer drug Avastin will not be made available for use on the NHS after the Swiss drugmaker declined requests to provide the agency with more data.
The National Institute for Clinical Health and Excellence said on Thursday, June 26, it was unable to recommend Avastin as a first-line treatment for lung and breast cancer after Roche failed to submit clinical and cost effectiveness evidence.
Greg Page, a Roche spokesman in the UK confirmed that the company had decided not to provide lung and breast cancer data because it was clear Avastin would not meet NICE's targets.
"There is a strict cost-effectiveness threshold in the UK and we felt it wouldn't be worth having everybody engaged for a year when it was obvious what the outcome would be," he said.
Review
NICE Chief Executive Andrew Dillon said, "We will issue advice to the NHS which will say that 'NICE is unable to recommend the use of the technology'.
"Of course, if sufficient evidence does become available in the future, we may take the opportunity to review and to revise our advice to the NHS."
Total Avastin sales hit CHF4.1billion last year and are expected to increase rapidly in the coming years, given the medicine's potential in a range of tumour types.