National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) Says "No" on Pfizer Inc. Kidney Cancer Drug

Pfizer Inc. (PFE)’s Inlyta failed to win the backing of the U.K.’s health cost regulator in draft guidance on the treatment of advanced kidney cancer, even after the company offered the National Health Service a discount. The preliminary decision applies to the use of the drug in patients who weren’t helped by the New York-based company’s Sutent or treatments known as cytokines, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, known as NICE, said today in an e-mailed statement. NICE advises the state-run NHS on which therapies represent value for money. Pfizer submitted trial data comparing Inlyta with a drug not recommended by NICE, the agency said. The trial didn’t compare the medicine with so-called best supportive care, which the majority of patients receive, and an indirect comparison was made using information from another study, NICE said. As a result, NICE’s appraisal committee was concerned that the company’s analysis wasn’t valid and reliable.