Janssen receives draft NICE recommendation for Stelara

Janssen's psoriatic arthritis drug Stelara has been provisionally recommended for NHS use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The UK regulator has opened a consultation on its new draft guidance which proposes recommending Stelara – also known as ustekinumab – as a treatment option for psoriatic arthritis in certain circumstances.

Guidance from NICE in May 2014 declined to recommend the drug, but it has reviewed its position following the introduction of a patient access scheme that will make it more cost-effective.

The new draft guidance provisionally recommends that Stelara could be used as a treatment option for people who are unable to use the drugs that NICE has already recommended, or who have already had treatment with one or more of those therapies.

Professor Carole Longson, director of the Health Technology Evaluation Centre at NICE, said: "This applies if the company provides the drug as agreed in the patient access scheme. We welcome comments on these draft recommendations as part of the consultation."

The drug was approved for the treatment of active psoriatic arthritis by the European Commission last year.