NICE approves Novartis’ CAR-T therapy for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

NICE has approved Novartis’ CAR-T therapy Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in adults who did not respond to two or more previous treatments. The drug will be funded via the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) following a commercial agreement with NHS England. Kymriah was previously approved in England and Wales 2018 for paediatric and young adult patients up to 25 years of age with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) that is refractory, in relapse post-transplant or in second or later relapse. This makes Kymriah the only CAR-T therapy approved by NICE in more than one distinct blood cancer. DLBCL is an aggressive form of blood cancer with a critical need for additional therapies. It is the most common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), accounting for approximately 30-40% of NHL cases in the UK and approximately 5,500 new cases per year. Survival rates are low for the majority of patients due to ineligibility for autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) or because salvage chemotherapy or ASCT have failed.