English Funding Setback For Novartis’s Mayzent

Novartis says that while the comparators used in the evidence it submitted to NICE were the right ones, it will work to address the health technology assessment body’s outstanding data requirements to secure access to its treatment for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.

stethoscope and digital tablet with MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS word on it screen. healthcare and medical concept — There have been few, if any, treatments for SPMS • Source: Shutterstock

NICE has issued a draft guidance rejecting Novartis’s Mayzent (siponimod) for treating secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, saying that the drug, which is Europe’s first oral treatment for SPMS, should not be used on England’s National Health Service.

While clinical trials have shown that Mayzent can slow the worsening of disability in SPMS, more detailed evidence and analysis...