Takeda UK has announced that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) as part of a combination treatment for adults with untreated Hodgkin lymphoma (HL).
The health technology assessment agency has recommended in final draft guidance that Adcetris be used on the NHS alongside doxorubicin, vinblastine and dacarbazine (AVD) to treat patients with untreated stage 3 or 4 CD30-positive HL.
The decision makes Adcetris the first drug to be recommended specifically for previously untreated late-stage classical HL and follows an “improved confidential discount” on the treatment’s list price offered by Takeda, NICE said.
HL is a relatively aggressive cancer that occurs when white blood cells called lymphocytes grow out of control. Approximately 2,100 cases are diagnosed in the UK every year, and around 800 people are diagnosed with stage 3 or 4 disease.
Adcetris belongs to a class of drugs called antibody-drug conjugates, which combine the selectivity of antibodies with the potent cell-killing power of chemotherapy or other anti-cancer agents.
Given as an infusion into a vein, Adcetris specifically targets human CD30-positive tumour cells and will be available immediately through the Cancer Drugs Fund.
NICE’s recommendation of the drug was supported by positive results from the late-stage ECHELON-1 trial, which compared Adcetris plus AVD to doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine (ABVD) in more than 1,300 adults with untreated stage 3 or 4 HL.
The study met its primary endpoints, with Adcetris plus AVD demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in modified progression-free survival compared to ABVD.
The trial also achieved its key secondary endpoint of overall survival, and the tolerability profile observed with the combination was generally manageable.
Emma Roffe, oncology country head, Takeda UK & Ireland said: “[Adcetris] is a medicine that continues to transform the treatment paradigm for patients with HL. We are committed to working in partnership with the clinical and patient community, NICE and the NHS, to ensure as many eligible patients as possible can gain access to this medicine.
“We are delighted that NICE recognised the benefit this regimen may bring to patients newly diagnosed with this aggressive disease.”
Takeda is responsible for Adcetris’ commercialisation everywhere except in the US and Canada, where Pfizer holds commercialisation rights.