Nice Issues Guidance For Taxotere® aimed to benefit patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

13-Jun-2001

The United Kingdom's (UK) National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued Guidance today recommending the use of Taxotere® (docetaxel) for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Taxotere is the first and only single agent approved by NICE for the treatment of NSCLC in pre-treated patients and sets a new course for survival in advanced lung cancer.

"Management of patients with advanced NSCLC varies enormously in the UK and I hope that the NICE Guidance will act as a catalyst for the rapid and widespread usage of these newer chemotherapeutic agents", said Dr Jesme Baird, Director of Patient Care, Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. â€œIt will be vital for patients that health authorities ensure that funding is made available as soon as possible so that patients can benefit from this exciting news."

NICE was established as a special health authority for England and Wales in April 1999. It is part of the National Health Service (NHS), and its role includes providing guidance to the public and health professionals in the "best practice" of medical technologies, including medicines.

Today's NICE Guidance comes only weeks after the publication and presentation of two major international studies involving Taxotere as a component of treatment for NSCLC. A study published in the May 12 issue of the journal Lancet was the first to show the improved therapeutic ratio of a Taxotere/non-platinum drug combination over a Taxotere/platinum standard regimen in treating advanced NSCLC. The study showed that Taxotere/gemcitabine had a significantly better safety and tolerability profile than the cisplatin containing regimen while delivering similarly impressive response rates.

In addition, a landmark study presented last month at the 37th American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting, demonstrated that patients with advanced NSCLC who received Taxotere and cisplatin lived significantly longer than patients treated with the standard drug combination of vinorelbine/cisplatin. With these landmark data, Taxotere-based regimens become the first and only drug regimens to show survival benefits in both first-and second-line treatment of NSCLC.

Lung cancer is the most common form of cancer with 40,700 new cases annually in the UK. It accounts for almost a quarter of all cancer deaths, with over 30,000 deaths each year in England and Wales. NSCLC accounts for about 80% of these cases.

While Taxotere is currently globally indicated for treatment of breast and non- small cell lung cancer, development continues for further indications in other tumors such as adjuvant breast, head & neck, gastric and prostate cancer for global launches over the next two years. In 2000, Taxotere generated sales of over 700 million euros worldwide, and is one of the key growth drivers for Aventis Pharma, the company that manufactures and markets this medicine.

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