NICE recommends MabThera (Roche) for Vasculitis
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended that Roche's MabThera (rituximab) is used by the National Health Service to treat a rare form of Vasculitis. In draft guidance, the Institute said the drug should be considered as an option for some adults with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated Vasculitis, a rare autoimmune disorder of which there are around 1,200 new cases in England and Wales every year.
MabThera was approved in the UK on 19 August 2013 for the treatment of two potentially fatal forms of Vasculitis. The treatment has been ratified for use against the life-threatening autoimmune diseases granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis, both of which can cause inflammation and damage of small blood vessels and frequently affect multiple organs. MabThera has been shown to offer similar efficacy to the chemotherapy agent cyclophosphamide in treating these conditions and even provides greater efficacy among a subset of patients with relapsing disease.
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