Pfizer Wins Recommendation For Sutent

Published: 28-May-2009

Pfizer has announced that British Health Agency, NICE has issued final appraisal document (FAD) recommending reimbursement for Sutent (sunitinib malate) as a second line treatment for patients with advanced gastrointestinal stomal tumor. This recommendation follows NICE’s recently published guidance recommending reimbursement for Sutent for the first-line treatment of advanced kidney cancer.

The recommendation was provided on the basis of data provided from pivotal phase III trial of Sutent, compared to placebo.

The result demonstrated that Sutent increased time to tumor progression by almost five months. Updated analyses of the trial demonstrated a median overall survival of 73.9 weeks for Sutent patients vs. 64.9 weeks for those initially receiving placebo.

Dr. Mace Rothenberg, Senior Vice President of Clinical Development and Medical affairs of Oncology Business Unit at Pfizer, said: “NICE’s decision gives hope to patients with GIST who develop resistance to imatinib. Insights into the causative pathways involved with cancers like GIST will help us bring Sutent to the right patient at the right time.”

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