Roche invited to submit Cancer Drugs Fund proposal for Tecentriq

Roche has been invited by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to submit a Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) proposal for its drug Tecentriq.

The UK regulator has assessed the atezolizumab immunotherapy as a treatment for advanced urothelial cancer, with a NICE committee determining that stronger evidence is needed to show the drug is both clinically and cost effective.

As such, it has suggested to Roche that Tecentriq be included in the CDF, which means UK patients can have access to the drug while the company gathers more data to support a full approval.

This additional evidence may then be strong enough for the NICE committee to reconsider the drug and recommend it be made available routinely through the NHS.

Professor Carole Longson, director of the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation at NICE, said: "Funding through the CDF means it could be offered to patients who cannot undergo chemotherapy while we collect more evidence. This will be a positive step for a lot of people."

Urothelial cancer occurs in the bladder or the ureter and is the seventh most common cancer in the UK. Since there are limited therapeutic options for this condition, NICE is keen to see Tecentriq made available to any patients that might be able to benefit.

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