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NICE rebuffs Revlimid for MDS

July 11, 2013 12:02 AM UTC

The U.K.'s NICE issued draft Revlimid lenalidomide from Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ:CELG) to treat patients with transfusion-dependent anemia due to low- or intermediate-1-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) with a 5q chromosomal deletion when other therapeutics are insufficient or inadequate -- an indication approved by the European Commission in June. The committee said Revlimid is "clinically effective" but said there was uncertainty about whether the drug improves overall survival. NICE estimated the most plausible incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for Revlimid vs. best supportive case, including blood transfusions, was likely to be greater than L70,000 ($106,568) per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. Comments are due July 31. ...