What has SMC said?
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has not recommended axicabtagene ciloleucel, for treating adult patients with one of two different type of lymphoma, high grade B-cell lymphoma (HGBL) or diffuse large B-Cell lymphoma (DLBCL). It is designed to be used when the cancer has come back less than 12 months after a type of treatment called chemoimmunotherapy or has not responded to this treatment.
This document summarises the SMC decision and what it means for patients.
You can find more detailed information about the SMC assessment of axicabtagene ciloleucel by looking at the SMC Detailed Advice Document (SMC2628).
What does SMC’s decision mean for patients?
Axicabtagene ciloleucel should not normally be prescribed on the NHS in Scotland as described above. Your healthcare professional should talk with you about other treatment options.
If your healthcare professional thinks you would benefit from it, they can make a request to prescribe axicabtagene ciloleucel. All health boards have procedures in place to consider these requests.
You can find more information about making decisions about your treatment in this booklet called: Medicines in Scotland: What’s the right treatment for me?
More about SMC’s decision
SMC was unable to accept axicabtagene ciloleucel as described above for routine use because the evidence from the company about the benefits the medicine offers when compared to current treatments was not strong enough to justify the additional cost of the medicine. This was despite using a more flexible approach* in the assessment, as it is for a rare condition where patients are likely to have a life expectancy of less than three years with currently available treatments.
How does SMC make its decision?
SMC carefully considers every new medicine to make sure it benefits patients and is likely to be a good use of NHS resources.
To do this SMC studies the following:
- Evidence from the company about how well the medicine works compared with current treatments available in Scotland, in relation to how much they will cost to buy and use to treat patients.
- Information from patient groups about the potential impact of the medicine on patients and carers.
- Advice from healthcare professionals about any benefits of the new medicine compared to current treatment, along with how the new medicine is likely to be used.
When SMC assesses a medicine it takes account of the needs of all patients in NHSScotland, not only those who may be treated with the medicine.
You can find out more about how SMC decides here: htps://www.scottishmedicines.org.uk/how-we-decide/
More information and support
The organisations below can provide more information and support for people with blood cancer and their families. SMC is not responsible for the content of any information provided by external organisations.
Anthony Nolan
https://www.anthonynolan.org
0303 303 0303
Blood Cancer UK
https://bloodcancer.org.uk
0808 2080 888
Leukaemia Care
https://www.leukaemiacare.org.uk
0808 8010 444
You can find out more about axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta®) in the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) by searching for the medicine name on the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) website.