NICE Recommends RoActemra (tocilizumab) for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis after failure of non-biologic DMARDs.

National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, Maidenhead, Berkshire   

February, 22nd 2012

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has today  recommended RoActemra (tocilizumab) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients who have failed standard disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) such as methotrexate , sulfasalazine, hydroxychloroquine, leflunomide .  RoActemra, which can be used alone when treatment with methotrexate is either not possible or not appropriate, is the first licensed Interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor antagonist and offers a fresh treatment approach to tackle the debilitating symptoms of RA.

The NICE recommendation represents the first time in over a decade that RA patients, who cease to respond to DMARDs, have access to a new class of treatment to help control their disease. Until now, patients’ only option after DMARD failure was to be given anti-tumour necrosis factor (aTNF) inhibitors (infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab, certolizumab pegol and golimumab).

You should be able to have tocilizumab if:

•    you have tried disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs for short) but they have not worked, as long as tocilizumab is used in the same way that NICE recommends drugs called tumour necrosis factor (TNF for short) inhibitors are used in its guidance Adalimumab, etanercept and infliximab for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis or

•    you have tried DMARDs and a TNF inhibitor but they have not worked, and you cannot have rituximab for medical reasons or because of a bad reaction, as long as tocilizumab is used as in the same way that NICE recommends TNF inhibitors are used in Adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab, rituximab and abatacept for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis after the failure of a TNF inhibitor or

•    you have tried TNF inhibitors and rituximab but they have not worked.

Ailsa Bosworth, Chief Executive of the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, commented: “We are delighted with NICE’s decision which is most welcome as it is vital that patients have effective options available as soon as one treatment approach fails. For the first time we have access to a different biologic post DMARD failure which gives clinicians and patients greater freedom of choice at this point in the pathway”.

Please click here to read the final NICE Guidance.

For more information, please contact the NRAS Helpline on 0800 298 7650.