Roche’s RoActemra wins NICE recommendation for wider use

Roche has won a provisional recommendation from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to expand the availability of its rheumatoid arthritis drug RoActemra.

New draft guidance from the UK regulator has endorsed the tocilizumab therapy for use among certain patients at an earlier stage than is currently recommended, provided that Roche offers a discount under the patient access scheme.

This would allow rheumatoid arthritis patients who have responded inadequately to disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs to benefit from RoActemra treatment, as long as the drug is used in accordance with NICE guidance on TNF inhibitor usage.

Should NICE's final decision reflect this draft recommendation, it would offer a new therapy option to patients and aid in the management of the disease.

Professor Carole Longson, director of the Health Technology Evaluation Centre at NICE, observed: "Rheumatoid arthritis can have a major impact on quality of life and can be a disabling condition."

This comes after Roche published data from a phase IIIb study called Act-Ray earlier this year, which showcased the benefits of RoActemra as a monotherapy.