NICE set to confirm negative Velcade stand

30 October 2006

The UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is set to confirm its draft appraisal on Velcade (bortezomib), a treatment for multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer, rejecting its use under the National Health Service in England and Wales (Marketletter August 7), according to press reports.

The news has sparked strong protests from patients and charities, which slam the NICE for shortening sufferers lives. The Institute is expected to say that Velcade, developed by US firm Millennium Pharmaceuticals and to be sold in the UK by Janssen-Cilag, is "clinically-effective" but "has not been shown to be cost-effective."

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