Posted by Michael Wonder on 13 Mar 2017
SMC - March 2017 decisions
13 March 2017 - The SMC has today published advice accepting a medicine used to treat follicular lymphoma for routine use by NHS Scotland.
Follicular lymphoma is a type of cancer of the white blood cells. Obinutuzumab (Gazyvaro) was accepted by SMC for use together with another medicine, bendamustine, for the treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma who don’t respond to or whose condition gets worse on other treatments. Obintuzumab was considered through SMC’s Patient and Clinician Engagement (PACE) process, which is used for medicines to treat end of life and very rare conditions. Through the PACE process, patient groups and clinicians highlighted that follicular lymphoma is an incurable disease characterised by relapses. They also shared that the choice and efficacy of therapies that induce remission diminish as the condition progresses. Obinutuzumab may delay progression of the disease and may spare patients from the burden of undergoing intensive chemotherapy.
Liposomal irinotecan (Onivyde) for the treatment of pancreatic cancer was not recommended for routine use following consideration through the PACE process. The Committee did not recommend liposomal irinotecan due to a lack of robust evidence from the submitting company about the clinical benefits and value for money of the medicine when compared to other currently available treatments.
