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Tesaro's ovarian cancer drug gets UK price watchdog's backing in draft guidance

The U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended Tesaro Inc.'s Zejula be available through the Cancer Drugs Fund to treat a recurring type of ovarian cancer.

The treatment will be available to patients with relapsed, high-grade serous epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer who have had two or more courses of platinum-based chemotherapy, NICE said in a final draft guidance published June 1.

The fund pays for cancer therapies for a period of time before they are definitively approved or rejected by the NICE.

Zejula, or niraparib, is a once-a-day pill and will be made available at an undisclosed discounted price settled between the state-run National Health Service and Tesaro, while more long-term survival data is gathered.

"We are pleased to see the inclusion of niraparib in the Cancer Drugs Fund as it will give women early access to this treatment while uncertainties in the clinical evidence can be addressed through the collection of additional data," Meindert Boysen, director of the center for health technology evaluation at NICE, said.

In clinical trials, the drug delayed cancer growth by six to 15.5 months more than placebo, but it could not be established if the therapy increased patient survival.

Zejula is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Commission as maintenance treatment for women with recurrent ovarian cancer.

Waltham, Mass.-based Tesaro reported 2017 net product sales of $120.7 million of which Zejula sales were $108.8 million.