4 July 2016 - Men with advanced hormone-dependent prostate cancer and spinal metastases are to gain routine access to Ferring's Firmagon (degarelix acetate) on the NHS after a u-turn by NICE saw the cost regulator issue final draft guidance endorsing its use.

In a somewhat bumpy review timeline spanning three years, NICE as recently as June rejected use of Firmagon (degarelix) as an option for patients with signs and symptoms of spinal cord compression, arguing that it failed to offer value for money compared with standard treatment, after having provisionally backed its use.

The drug was actually first approved by the EMA for men with advanced hormone-dependent prostate cancer in 2009, and has been available in the UK since 2010. But ongoing changes to NICE's guidance since then have resulted in great variations in access to Firmagon across the UK, the firm noted.

According to Ferring, the testone-lowering therapy drug has shown significantly longer progression-free survival compared with luteinising hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists, an existing hormonal therapy. Also, clinical studies have demonstrated that men treated with Firmagon "have a significantly reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, fewer musculoskeletal events and a lower incidence of urinary tract events than those treated with LHRH agonists".

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