NICE recommends against Aimovig from Novartis

The U.K.’s NICE issued draft guidance not recommending Aimovig erenumab from Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; SIX:NOVN) to prevent chronic and episodic migraine. While the committee concluded that the evidence shows that Aimovig is effective, it said that the trial evidence does not reflect patients seen in clinical practice in the NHS and does not include all relevant comparators and outcomes. Given the "substantial uncertainty," NICE agreed the acceptable incremental cost-effectiveness ratio would be about £20,000 ($25,600) per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained, but concluded that Aimovig's estimated ICER per QALY is higher than that threshold.

Comments on the draft are due Jan. 31...