WIREDGOV

NICE has today (8 September 2021) published final draft guidance which now recommends apalutamide (also called Erleada and made by Janssen) plus androgen deprivation therapy for treating prostate cancer in adults

The positive recommendations follow an improved discount to the price of apalutamide offered by the company.

The draft guidance looks at treating prostate cancer in adults which no longer responds to hormone therapy and who are at high risk of the cancer spreading to other parts of their body, or is still sensitive to hormone therapy but has already spread.

Apalutamide is a type of drug called an androgen receptor inhibitor which works by blocking the effect of testosterone on prostate cancer cells.  

For both types of prostate cancer where apalutamide has been recommended, the clinical trial results suggest apalutamide plus androgen deprivation therapy increases the time until the disease gets worse and how long people with these types of prostate cancer live.

It is estimated that around 8,000 people with hormone-sensitive or hormone-relapsed prostate cancer will now be eligible for treatment with apalutamide.

Meindert Boysen, NICE deputy chief executive and director of the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation, said: “We are very pleased that Janssen has been able to work with us to address the uncertainties in the evidence identified by the committee in the previous draft guidance. This means that we are able to produce final draft guidance recommending apalutamide as an effective and valuable additional treatment option for people with these types of prostate cancer.”