SMC recommends Napp's bendamustine in CLL, Genzyme's Renvela and ... er, well ... that's all
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Of the latest batch of verdicts to come out of Scotland's health technology assessment body, the Scottish Medicines Consortium, only Napp Pharmaceuticals' bendamustine (Levact) received a positive decision for use in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. The Consortium was convinced that bendamustine was cost-effective for stage B and C CLL in patients who had not responded to the cheaper combination chemotherapies including fludarabine, even though it thought Napp had significantly underestimated the cost of the Quality Adjusted Life Year gain for the drug.