Keytruda (pembrolizumab) had been available through an early access
scheme which fast tracks unlicensed medicines to severely ill patients.
It has now been approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) for treating advanced skin cancer in patients who have already tried another drug, ipilimumab.
There were over 13,000 people diagnosed with malignant melanoma in the UK in 2011. Melanoma accounts for more deaths than all other skin cancers combined.
Keytruda
was the first drug to be approved through the Medicines and Healthcare
Products Regulatory Agency's Early Access to Medicine Scheme (EAMS).
Professor
Carole Longson, director of the Nice health technology evaluation
centre, said: "We are pleased to be able to recommend pembrolizumab, the
first EAMS drug, in final guidance.
"This will be welcome news to patients and healthcare professionals alike."
No comments:
Post a Comment