NICE in cost-sharing deal for MM drug

In yet another indication of greater flexibility, the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which advises on  medical treatment under the National Health Service in England and  Wales, has issued a positive recommendation for Revlimid  (lenalidomide), a drug for multiple myeloma from Celgene  International. The agency had previously rejected the drug as not cost  effective. However, the revised decision is based on a cost-sharing deal  with the manufacturer.

The preliminary agreement - which is being put out for consultation  until February 20 - is that the NHS will pay for the use of Revlimid for  26 treatment cycles of 28 days each for patients with previously-treated  MM. After that, Celgene will fully fund the drug for those people who  continue to benefit and remain on the oral therapy for more than 26  cycles.

The annual cost of therapy with this product to the NHS is put at around  GBP36,000 ($50,155) a year, or GBP208 per pill. The NICE has said that  Revlimid can be used in combination with dexamethasone in MM patients  who have received two or more prior therapies. There are an estimated  3,800 new cases of the condition, a cancer of the blood, in the UK every  year.