Posted by Michael Wonder on 14 Dec 2017
NICE changes its mind on Imbruvica for mantle cell lymphoma
14 December 2017 - In a reversal of a previous guidance, the UK’s NICE has issued draft guidance recommending ibrutinib (or routine National Health Service use to treat mantle cell lymphoma in people who have had only one prior line of therapy.
US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen’s Imbruvica (ibrutinib) is currently available to patients in the Cancer Drugs Fund. It is used to treat patients if their cancer has come back or not responded to first-line treatment. It is considered a life-extending treatment at the end-of-life.
Back in September the cost-effectiveness watchdog rejected the drug for the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma on the NHS.
