National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) Issues Draft “No” for Pfizer Inc.'s Xalkori, but Opens Consultation

Patients in England and Wales with lung cancer should not have access to Pfizer’s Xalkori through the NHS at the drug’s current price, according to new draft guidance from cost-effectiveness body the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). NICE said that despite being a clinically effective treatment, Xalkori (crizotinib) was not a cost-effective use of NHS resources for use in its approved indication of previously treated anaplastic-lymphoma-kinase-positive advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). According to NICE, a course of treatment with Xalkori would cost the NHS between £37,512 and £46,890 until disease progression, and a course after disease progression would be £51,579.

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