Bayer’s Xofigo recommended by NICE as prostate cancer therapy

Bayer's cancer therapy Xofigo has been recommended for routine NHS use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The UK regulator has issued new guidance, to be made final later this month, recommending the radium-223 therapy for patients who have prostate cancer that has spread to the bone.

Previously, it was only recommended for patients who had received initial treatment with docetaxel, with those who had not received docetaxel having to access it through the Cancer Drugs Fund. During 2014-15, the number of patients receiving the treatment through this route was only 601.

However, the emergence of new clinical data showing how Xofigo compares with drugs that are already available has led NICE to approve the therapy for routine NHS use.

Professor Carole Longson, director of the centre for health technology evaluation at NICE, said: "Patients with prostate cancer will surely benefit from this drug being available for routine NHS use. I hope we'll see more drugs like this move into routine NHS use after companies have been able to better demonstrate cost-effectiveness."

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, affecting around one in eight men during their lifetime.

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