The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued draft guidance this week reversing its earlier position on Nucala thanks to a price cut and new data on cost-effectiveness succumbed by GSK.
Patients in the UK with asthma are on progression to receive treatment with GlaxoSmithKline’s recently approved Nucala drug.
According to final draft, Nucala can be used as an add-on therapy for treating severe obstinate eosinophilia asthma in adults, provided they have blood eosinophil counts of 300 cells/mL or more and have at least four breakthrough asthma attacks in the last 12 months or have been on continuous oral corticosteroids for six months.
The endorsements also call for treatment with the drug to be stopped after 12 months if there is no substantial development in asthma attacks or the need for corticosteroids.
According to Prof Carole Longson, director of NICE’s centre for health technology evaluation, “Adults with severe asthma have had partial treatment options and most of them end up taking oral corticosteroids for prolonged periods which can cause further problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure and mood swings.”
Nucala was the first in a new class of interleukin-5 (IL-5) inhibitors to be accepted for marketing, getting a green light from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) a year ago. There are thought to be around 100,000 people in the UK who have hysterical asthma. Nucala is anticipated to value from its first-to-market status, with analysts at Credit Suisse predicting sales of $1.54bn in 2020 given the seriousness of uncontrolled asthma. Its dosing – by subcutaneous injection every four weeks – is seen as an advantage over Cinqaero, which has to be delivered intravenously.
Stalling the activity of IL-5 dampens down the activity of eosinophil, a provocative cell known to play an significant role in the asthma disease process. Nucala’s list price in the UK is £840 per dose, but the discount provided to the National Health Service (NHS) is not revealed.
Dated: December 1st 2016
http://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/nice_changes_stance_on_gsks_asthma_drug_nucala_1179522