NICE rejects Yescarta as not cost effective treatment for relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma . Kite/Gilead Sciences.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has rejected use of Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel)immunotherapy by the NHS in draft guidance for the use to treat diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma after two prior therapies.

The appraisal document for Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel ) notes that the therapy �is not recommended, within its anticipated marketing authorisation, for treating relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma in adults after 2 or more systemic therapies.� It�s been estimated there are around 4,800 people are diagnosed with DLBCL or PMLBL each year in the UK. Yescarta is expected to have a list price ( undisclosed at this stage) of around the �300,000 (�272,000) mark, as a starting point for pricing and reimbursement negotiations.

While Yescarta has been shown to be clinically effective, NICE says that there are �no direct data comparing axicabtagene ciloleucel with salvage chemotherapy�, which is viewed as the best supportive care currently available to these patients. �This means that the exact size of the benefit of axicabtagene ciloleucel compared with salvage chemotherapy is unknown.� The appraisal committee was also concerned about the side effects of the therapy.