Britain's drug pricing watchdog has recommended against continuing to pay for Amgen's lung cancer treatment Lumakras, a decision that could close off access for future patients.
According to Endpoints News, the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said in draft guidance released on Thursday that government reimbursement of Lumakras should be cut off for new patients.
NICE is the body that assesses whether medicines offer enough value to justify their cost to the country's health system. When it recommends against a drug, that treatment is generally not funded for patients going forward, even if it remains approved for use. A draft recommendation is not final, and such guidance typically goes through a consultation period before a conclusion is confirmed.
The reporting from Endpoints News does not detail the specific reasons behind the recommendation or how many patients currently rely on the drug.
Why it matters: Decisions by NICE effectively determine which medicines are available to patients through the UK's public health system, so a recommendation against Lumakras could mean people newly diagnosed with this form of lung cancer lose a treatment option—while also signaling to drugmakers the pricing pressure they face in a major market.