UK drugs watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published a final guidance recommending National Health Service use of two new treatments for multiple myeloma: USA-based Celgene’s (Nasdaq: CELG) Thalidomide Celgene (thalidomide) and health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) subsidiary Janssen’s Velcade (bortezomib). Thalidomide in combination with an alkylating agent and a corticosteroid is recommended as an option for the first-line treatment of multiple myeloma in people for whom high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation is considered inappropriate. Velcade is also recommended under these circumstances, if the person is unable to tolerate or has contraindications to thalidomide, said the NICE, which previously gave a preliminary positive opinion on the two drugs (The Pharma Letter June 20).
