Boehringer Ingelheim receives NICE recommendation for Vargatef

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced that the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended its lung cancer drug Vargatef for use within the NHS in England and Wales.

The therapy has been endorsed in combination with docetaxel as an option for patients with non-small cell lung cancer of adenocarcinoma histology within its licensed indication.

It is the first and only triple angiokinase inhibitor available for EU patients in this indication and has demonstrated its overall and progression-free survival benefits in clinical studies such as the LUME-Lung 1 trial.

Vargatef was approved by the European Commission in November 2014 and was recommended by the Scottish Medicines Consortium for NHS Scotland use in January.

Dr Mehdi Shahidi, medical head for solid tumour oncology at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: "The survival advantage demonstrated by Vargatef, in combination with docetaxel, has been shown with a predictable and generally manageable safety profile."

The therapy utilises the active ingredient nintedanib, which is also approved in Europe for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.