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ARTICLE | Company News

NICE rebuffs Avastin for first-line ovarian cancer

December 18, 2012 2:33 AM UTC

The U.K.'s NICE issued draft guidance recommending against Avastin bevacizumab from Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) for first-line treatment of advanced ovarian cancer in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin. The committee questioned the overall survival (OS) benefit of Avastin plus paclitaxel and carboplatin because of the "uncertainty related to the extent and impact of patients" in the control arm of the Phase III GOG-0218 trial who switched to Avastin plus paclitaxel and carboplatin after disease progression. NICE said the non-significant difference in median OS of 3.2 months that was attributed to Avastin in the trial should be "interpreted cautiously." NICE also estimated that the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for Avastin per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained would be L128,000-L161,000 ($207,219-$260,643), which is above the range normally considered cost-effective. Comments are due Jan. 22, 2013. ...