Roche receives final NICE draft recommendation for Tarceva

Roche has been granted a final draft recommendation from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) for its lung cancer drug Tarceva.

The UK regulator has issued guidance endorsing the therapy as an option for patients with locally advanced or metastatic EFGR mutation-positive non-small-cell lung cancer.

NICE has been advised by clinical specialists that Tarceva offers similar performance and efficacy to Iressa, the AstraZeneca drug it currently recommends for this patient group, meaning Roche's therapy can provide a viable alternative.

Its decision to issue the endorsement comes after Roche supplied the regulator with further data that demonstrates its cost-effective nature.

Professor Carole Longson, director of the centre for health technology evaluation at NICE, said: "We are pleased to be able to recommend another treatment option for this stage of the disease."

This comes after the Strategic Health Authority in London agreed last month to provide funding support for NHS breast cancer patients being treated with Roche's Avastin.