The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is consulting once again on the use of Celgene’s Revlimid (lenalidomide) in the treatment of multiple myeloma following one prior treatment with Johnson & Johnson’s Velcade (bortezomib), as it issued a second draft guidance not recommending it in this use.

Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer for which there is currently no cure. For most patients, a thalidomide regimen would be most suitable as a first-line treatment to stop the condition’s progress and relieve symptoms. NICE also recommends Velcade as an option for people who cannot take thalidomide and for whom bone marrow transplantation is not appropriate. This appraisal considers the use of Revlimid for such patients who have therefore received first-line treatment with Velcade and whose disease has subsequently relapsed.

For more details, go to: http://www.pharmatimes.com/Article/14-07-31/New_NICE_knockback_for_Celgene_myeloma_drug.aspx?#ixzz393giTWOV%20