NICE updates advice allowing earlier use of RoActemra/Actemra (Roche) for Rheumatoid Arthritis

According to NICE, patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis can now be offered RoActemra/Actemra (tocilizumab), from Roche, alongside other treatment options at an earlier stage. Under this updated guidance, RoActemra/Actemra is now recommended, in combination with methotrexate, for treating Rheumatoid Arthritis if treatment with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDS) has failed, and provided that the manufacturer offers the drug with the discount agreed as part of the patient access scheme. NICE carried out a rapid review of the existing guidance, which was published in August 2010, following the submission of a patient access scheme which the manufacturer Roche has agreed with the Department of Health. Patient access schemes are special ways pharmaceutical companies can propose to enable patients to gain access to high costs drugs. The original guidance recommended that RoActemra/Actemra be offered as an option for people with Rheumatoid Arthritis if there has been an inadequate response to one or more TNF inhibitors, and where rituximab has also produced an inadequate response or where rituximab is contraindicated or has produced undesirable side effects. The updated guidance still includes these recommendations, and in all cases this is on the basis that the manufacturer provides RoActemra/Actemra with the discount agreed as part of the patient access scheme.