Boehringer Ingelheim’s Giotrif receives NICE recommendation

Boehringer Ingelheim's lung cancer therapy Giotrif has received a recommendation from the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The regulator has issued final guidance endorsing the drug for funding via the NHS. It represents the third targeted treatment that NICE has recommended for people with EGFR-TK mutation-positive forms of lung cancer.

A targeted, personalised therapy, Giotrif works by blocking the EGFR-TK inhibitor signal pathways, helping to slow the growth and spread of tumours. Non-small-cell lung cancer patients are now tested for this mutation at diagnosis to ensure that the most appropriate treatment is selected.

Since the drug was recommended in line with its licensed indication, NICE was able to exclude the consultation stage of the appraisal to speed up access.

Sir Andrew Dillon, chief executive of NICE, said: "NICE was able to publish this final guidance quickly – in just over three months since the committee first met to discuss the treatment."

This comes after the firm received orphan drug designation in the US and EU for volasertib, a new treatment for leukaemia, earlier this month.