NICE appeal verdict to postpone the decision and undertake a reappraisal causes disappointment

JAMES WHALE FUND IS DISAPPOINTED WITH THE NICE APPEAL VERDICT TO POSTPONE THE DECISION AND UNDERTAKE A REAPPRAISAL DESPITE ALL THE VALUE AXITINIB BRINGS TO KIDNEY CANCER PATIENTS.
Kidney Cancer UK together with Pfizer Ltd, Kidney Cancer UK and Royal College of Physicians have submitted an appeal against the Final Appraisal Determination, issued by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), on Axitinib for treating advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) after failure of prior systemic treatment.
The Fund is disappointed with the NICE appeal verdict to postpone the decision and undertake a reappraisal despite all the value Axitinib brings to patients. Not only has Axitinib demonstrated to be clinically effective in extending the life of a patient suffering from advanced RCC, but Pfizer Ltd has also proved that this drug is a cost effective treatment. However, we can now look to the future of kidney cancer patients with optimism as the subject will be further reviewed.
Broadcaster James Whale MBE Chairman of the Kidney Cancer UK and himself a kidney cancer survivor, commented that despite the fact that the Panel upheld the appeal to address the issues on which the appeal has been allowed, he is still dissatisfied with the delay. NICE decision seems to go against all the evidence that this drug would prolong the life of the patient. The Fund feels that the Institute’s decision cannot be reasonably justified in the light of the evidence submitted and consequently it acts against patients rather than in their favour. In other parts of Europe it is a doctor that decides the patient’s treatment not a committee that is remote from the patient and his clinical needs.
Professor Thomas Powles, a Trustee of the Fund, said that the original decision to reject Axitinib and now to postpone the appeal result is the wrong one for patients. It leaves our patients without a NICE approved 2nd line therapy which is necessarily to extend life.
We take the Appraisal Committee’s final conclusions with optimism and strongly believe that the drug’s proven life-prolonging effect will be considered as a winning factor in NICE’s further review.