Pfizer receives draft NICE recommendation for Inlyta

Pfizer's advanced kidney cancer drug Inlyta has been provisionally recommended for NHS use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

New draft guidance from the regulatory body has endorsed the use of the axitinib-based therapy as a means of treating renal cell carcinoma, a particularly dangerous form of the disease.

Previously, NICE had declined to recommend the Pfizer drug, but the manufacturer has since submitted more information on how well it works in this group of patients, as well as offering details of a proposed patient access scheme.

Following an appeal, NICE has taken a positive stance. The next stage of the approval process will be a public consultation, allowing relevant stakeholders to offer their views on the draft guidance.

Professor Carole Longson, health technology evaluation centre director at NICE, said: "We are pleased to now be able to provisionally recommend axitinib in this draft guidance and we welcome comments on this proposal as part of the consultation."

This comes after Pfizer allied with Merck Sharp and Dohme last month to assess the potential benefits of using the investigational drug MK-3475 in combination with Inlyta among patients with renal cell carcinoma.