Janssen receives NICE recommendation for Incivo

Janssen has been granted a positive recommendation for its hepatitis C therapy Incivo from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

The UK regulator has issued technology appraisal guidance for the NHS in England and Wales, endorsing unrestricted use of Incivo, in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, for genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C patients with compensated liver disease who are previously untreated or in whom previous treatment failed.

Incivo is one of a new class of medicines that directly targets the hepatitis C virus and has shown safety and efficacy in clinical trials.

It has been approved by NICE following analysis of its cost-effectiveness and clinical benefits compared to the current standard of care.

Graham Foster, professor of hepatology at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, said: "This means that clinicians will be able to prescribe these new treatments on the NHS, which significantly increases these patients' chances of clearing the virus and offers some patients a shorter treatment duration."

This comes after Janssen's prostate cancer drug Zytiga was recommended by the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group earlier this year.