The Scottish Medicines Consortium has endorsed the use of seven new drugs on the National Health Service, including two biosimilars.

First up, the cost regulator has agreed that GlaxoSmithKline’s Tafinlar (dabrafenib) should be considered a treatment option for certain types of melanoma which cannot be removed surgically or have spread to other parts of the body. The drug offers an alternative therapy which is as effective as others currently available but comes with a different side-effect profile, the SMC noted.

Novartis’ Jakavi (ruxolitinib) has been cleared for enlarged spleen or symptoms in adults with primary myeolfibrosis. Patient groups and clinicians taking part in the appraisal spoke about the debilitating symptoms patients suffer as a result, and as there are no medical treatments that effectively address these symptoms Jakavi can greatly improve patients’ quality of life, the Committee said.

Elsewhere, two new biosimilar formulations of infliximab - Hospira’s Inflectra and Celltrion’s Remsima - were accepted for restricted use, in line with the current advice in Scotland for reference product Remicade. The drug is used to treat joint conditions such rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis, the gastrointestinal conditions Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and psoriasis. “The managed introduction of these biosimilar preparations is expected to yield savings for the NHS as they are generally cheaper than the originator product,” the SMC noted.

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