UK- NICE gives Roche drug green light for bladder cancer

London: Britain’s healthcare cost-effectiveness agency NICE, which decides if medicines should be used on the state health service, has decided Roche’s immunotherapy drug Tecentriq is worth using to treat certain patients with bladder cancer.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) had ruled against the drug’s routine use in August. But on Wednesday it endorsed Tecentriq’s use for patients whose bladder cancer has not yet been treated and who cannot have cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

The green light comes under the Cancer Drugs Fund, which offers an alternative source of funding and is designed to provide access to promising treatments. Roche is offering a special deal on the medicine, the details of which have not been disclosed.