NICE final guidance supports Zykadia for ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer.- Novartis.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has issued final guidelines supporting NHS use of Zykadia (ceritinib), from Novartis, as a first line of defence for anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In clinical trials, data showed a 45 percent reduction in the risk of disease progression in patients taking ceritinib versus those on conventional chemotherapy.

Patients treated with first-line Zykadia had a median progression-free survival of 16.6 months versus 8.1 months for patients treated with standard first-line pemetrexed-platinum chemotherapy with pemetrexed maintenance. Ceritinib also showed a benefit in patients with brain metastases with a median PFS of 10.7 months compared to 6.7 months in the chemotherapy arm.