Pharmaprojects R&D Pipeline News Feed
Johnson & Johnson offers up a money-back deal for Velcade
13 Jun 2007
Johnson and Johnson's (J&J) multiple myeloma drug Velcade (bortezomib) finally looks set to become available in England, after the UK's National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) reached a deal with J&J, to make the drug 'cost-effective' for prescription by the UK National Health Service (NHS) in England. Velcade will now be recommended for use in the English NHS, and under the terms of the agreement, the NHS will pick up the bill for patients who respond well and continue their treatment. However, those showing a minimal or no response will be taken off treatment, and the drug's costs (around £18,000/year) will be refunded by J&J. This scheme is the first of its kind and could signal a new era for the health service, allowing wider patient access to novel drugs and greater value for money for the NHS. Velcade had previously been unavailable in England, despite being available throughout the remainder of the UK,
Every year in the UK there are more than 2,400 multiple myeloma-related deaths. Velcade was the first anticancer proteasome inhibitor to reach the clinic and has advanced rapidly through registration and launch — since 2003, it has been launched in Asia, Australasia, Europe and the US. It has proven efficacy in refractory and relapsed myeloma patients, and demonstrated superiority over dexamethsone by nearly doubling the median time to disease progression and reducing the risk of death by 41%. In its earlier review, NICE had agreed that it was efficacious, but restricted availability to use in clinical trials only due its cost.
