NICE Recommends Celgene’s Psoriasis Drug Otezla

The UK’s drug pricing watchdog is recommending reimbursement of Celgene’s plaque psoriasis drug Otezla, provided that the company lowers its price.

In a draft appraisal, UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence deemed Otezla a cost-effective treatment option only if the company discounts its price to an unspecified amount. The current list price of Otezla is roughly $732 per for a 28-day course of treatment.

In four placebo-controlled trials, Otezla proved more effective than placebo in treating chronic plaque psoriasis in adult patients who did not respond to systemic therapies, the agency noted. These systematic therapies included ciclosporin, methotrexate or PUVA, an ultraviolet light therapy.