UK regulatory body NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) has issued final draft guidance which recommends that idelalisib (marketed as Zydelig by Gilead Sciences) should be made available on the NHS for some adults with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).

NICE has recommended idelalisib, when given with another cancer treatment rituximab, for adults with CLL who have a specific genetic change and have not received any other treatment or for all adults with CLL if their cancer has come back less than 24 months after previous treatment.

The decision follows a preliminary decision earlier this year where NICE asked for the company to provide further information on the cost effectiveness of the drug.

Gilead Sciences responded by submitting new economic analyses. A simple discount agreement to the list price of idelalisib was included in the initial submission.

Professor Carole Longson, NICE health technology evaluation centre director, said: “We are delighted that Gilead Sciences responded to our consultation by providing further information for our independent appraisal committee and that they had agreed to provide idelalisib to the NHS at a reduced price in the initial submission. For people whose cancer has returned less than 2 years after their last treatment, their options are currently limited. With this new positive recommendation, the NHS will have another clinically effective option for treating adults with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.”

Idelalisib is the first of a new class of drug that work by blocking the signals which help cancerous cells multiply and survive.

The draft guidance is now with consultees, who have the opportunity to appeal against it. Until NICE issues final guidance, NHS bodies should make decisions locally on the funding of specific treatments.

This draft guidance does not mean that people currently taking idelalisib will stop receiving it. They have the option to continue treatment until they and their clinicians consider it appropriate to stop.

Source: NICE

Reference: The draft guidance is available at /guidance/indevelopment/gid-tag488.