Roche’s Tecentriq approved for funding in UK in bladder cancer

In a rare spot of good news for Tecentriq (atezolizumab), after a turbulent period, Roche’s drug has been given the nod by NICE to be funded through the Cancer Drug Fund (CDF).

Tecentriq has been approved to treat patients with bladder cancer who have not previously been treated and are unsuitable for cisplatin-based chemotherapy. The approval means that approximately half of all patients with metastatic bladder cancer could be eligible for treatment with Tecentriq.

The decision comes after Roche was knocked back in August by NICE, but were invited to return to apply for a smaller patient population through the CDF. Roche had previously applied for use of the treatment in patients who had already been treated with chemotherapy.

At the time, Roche reacted positively to the invitation to apply to the CDF and the news that it had been approved was a good sign.

Richard Erwin, General Manager, Roche, commented: "We welcome the news that patients will now be able to access atezolizumab via the Cancer Drugs Fund.  This demonstrates the importance of working collaboratively and flexibly with NICE and NHS England. Looking ahead, it is important that long-term access is achieved and we will be working with NICE to submit further evidence via our ongoing clinical trial programme, which will hopefully see atezolizumab transition into traditional NHS access routes as soon as possible. This is the third Roche medicine approved in 2017 for NHS use and we’re incredibly proud that patients are able to access the medicines we’ve worked so hard to develop."

The company will have to continue working hard on the drug, after Q3 financial results revealed that sales of Tecentriq had already slowed, with sales down in comparison to the previous quarter. This comes after a damaging result in Phase 3 trials showing that Tecentriq did not improve overall survival compared to standard treatment.

It also now has to compete with Keytruda, the market leader, in the bladder cancer space, which was able to show that it was able to boost overall survival in second-line treatment significantly.

Those that stand to benefit from this competition are patients; Professor Carole Longson, Director of the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation at NICE said: "I am pleased Roche has worked with us and NHS England to address the uncertainties raised by the committee. To have atezolizumab as an option for people who cannot undergo other treatment for their urothelial cancer is a positive thing."