Following today’s news (11 November) that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Kyowa Kirin’s Poteligeo for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sézary syndrome (SS), types of blood cancer with skin involvement called cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL);

Sakis Paliouras, PhD, Senior Oncology & Hematology Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“CTCL patients in England have lacked access to a drug that has been described by key opinion leaders (KOLs) interviewed by GlobalData as a game-changer, particularly for patients with SS. Poteligeo received FDA and EMA approval in 2018 and since then, NHS doctors could only access it through a compassionate use scheme, resulting in much lower use than if it would have been regularly reimbursed.

“Now, with full NICE reimbursement, GlobalData anticipates rapid clinical uptake. Poteligeo is among the most well-tolerated drugs for CTCL, with minimal side effects, and the limited options available upon relapse for patients with MF and SS should place it high in the hematologists’ armamentarium. KOLs have also noted complete responses in patients with blood involvement, which they don’t often see in these patients, suggesting an important benefit in life quality.

“With an incidence of around 1 person in 100,000, CTCLs are considered rare, which would normally speed up the process to market for innovative medicines. While this was the case for the US and many European countries, the UK has lagged behind in its reimbursement review of Poteligeo. Poteligeo is currently available in 14 countries, and with a very good market course thus far, GlobalData anticipates this number to increase and peak sales to reach $291m globally by 2027.”