Thursday, October 04, 2007

Roche - Tarceva: price cut to avoid "NICE blight"

Roche has announced that it is to cut the price of its lung cancer treatment Tarceva for a limited time while NICE re-appraises the drug. The move amounts to a 27.5 percent discount from the previous average price of 6,798 pounds ($13,810) for a 125-day course of treatment, a spokesman said.

The company says it is making the unprecedented move to ensure that patients aren't denied the drug by PCTs which are awaiting final NICE guidance - the widespread phenomenon known as NICE blight.

Roche says Tarceva (erlotinib) will now be available at the same price as the current second-line chemotherapy docetaxel with which it is compared, a move which it believes will help more patients receive the drug.

More at PharmaFocus

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