Pfizer’s Xalkori provisionally recommended by NICE for lung cancer

Pfizer's cancer therapy Xalkori has been recommended for the treatment of lung cancer in new draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The crizotinib-based therapy is the first pill for people with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and is administered twice a day. It has been shown to be effective in shrinking or slowing the growth of tumours by targeting a specific protein only found in cancerous cells.

Previously people with this type of lung cancer could only be treated with intravenous chemotherapy every three weeks, meaning the tablet-based Xalkori could help many patients to avoid hospital.

A previous attempt to secure a NICE recommendation was rejected by the regulator due to concerns about its cost-effectiveness, but Pfizer has since responded by agreeing to provide an additional discount for the NHS.

Professor Carole Longson, director of the health technology evaluation centre at NICE, said: "As the only oral treatment available for people with untreated lung cancer, crizotinib is a really valuable option that will now be routinely available on the NHS."

The drug is licensed for people with ALK-positive lung cancer and will become available straight away through the Cancer Drugs Fund. Around 459 patients are expected to be eligible for first-line treatment with Xalkori in England and Wales.

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