28 April 2017 - It is now looking likely that some patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma will be able to get routine access to Takeda’s Adcetris on the NHS after a major u-turn by cost regulators.

Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) is cleared in Europe to treat CD30-positive Hodgkin's lymphoma patients with: relapsed or refractory hodgkin's lymphoma after autologous stem cell transplant; a high risk of disease relapse or progression; and relapsed or refractory disease after two previous therapies when autologous stem cell transplant or multi-agent chemotherapy is not an option.

But late last year the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published draft guidelines rejecting use of the drug - which is currently available in England to patients via the Cancer Drugs Fund in certain indications - despite new evidence and a drop in its price, because of what it classed as “uncertainties” in the evidence.

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