20 February 2019 - The treatment regimen is bevacizumab with carboplatin and gemcitabine hydrochloride and paclitaxel.

NICE is unable to make a recommendation about the use of this regimen in the NHS because no evidence submission was received from Roche. NICE will review this decision if the company decides to make a submission.

This is the twelfth scheduled appraisal of bevacizumab by NICE for various diseases/conditions. Five of these appraisals have been terminated because Roche chose not to prepare/lodge a submission. NICE is yet to recommend the use of bevacizumab on the NHS for any disease/condition.

NICE has completed 560 technology assessments since its inception in 1999; 41 of these assessments have either been terminated or suspended. While most of these planned assessments were single technology assessments, a small number have involved multiple technologies (with multiple sponsors).

It is likely that Roche chose not to prepare/lodge a submission for the recent termination (TA560) for the simple reason that bevacizumab is now out of patent in Europe. This week Pfizer announced that the European Commission has approved its brand of bevacizumab (Zirabev). All four medicines in TA560 are now out of patent.

While some might think that Roche is the leading company in terms of terminated/suspended NICE appraisals, this is incorrect. That title currently sits with Janssen.

Read NICE guidance