The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) announced that it does not recommend AstraZeneca’s Lynparza (olaparib) for National Health Service (NHS) use in the treatment of patients with hormone-relapsed metastatic prostate cancer with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations that has progressed after a newer hormonal treatment.

NICE said that although clinical trial evidence showed that people taking Lynparza have more time before their cancer gets worse and live longer overall than people having retreatment with abiraterone or enzalutamide, this retreatment is not considered effective and is not standard care in the NHS.

In addition, the agency decision factored in the most likely cost-effectiveness estimates for Lynparza, which are higher than what NICE normally considers an acceptable use of NHS resources.

Nevertheless, had NICE recommended Lynparza for this patient population, it would have made the drug available for NHS use at a discounted price. The negotiated price of Lynparza was not disclosed.