NICE rejects three bowel cancer drugs

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has rejected three drugs for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, as they do not represent value for money.

NICE decided not to recommend Roche's Avastin, Merck KGaA's Erbitux and Amgen's Vectibix, as the high cost of the drugs could not be justified. The agency said that no convincing data was presented to demonstrate the extension of life for a patient with the disease.

NICE has currently recommended six treatments for the various stages of colorectal cancer, and commented that it was “disappointed not to be able to recommend” the three drugs.

Around 20-55 per cent of people with colorectal cancer have metastatic disease by the time of diagnosis.

The companies have been allowed to submit further comments on the committee's interpretation of their products, or consider reducing their prices.