NICE Rejects Roche’s Kadcyla over Pricing Concerns, but Backs Perjeta

The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care and Excellence published a final guidance endorsing the use of Roche’s Perjeta, while rejecting the firm’s Kadcyla drug.

The recommendation for Perjeta in breast cancer will stand as long as Roche accepts the agreed-upon discount. The move reverses a May 2016 decision that had rejected the drug, over uncertainties regarding the drug’s long-term benefit and limited trial data.

Kadcyla has been available as a breast cancer treatment in England for nearly three years. However, the availability of the medicine is set to end after NICE said the average price of £90,000 per patient, or about $110,000 USD, was too high.