Question reference: S5W-05833
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 21 December 2016
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 January 2017
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on approving access to the drug, Ibrutinib, for people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, in light of the recent decision to allow access to this in England and Wales.
Answer
In Scotland we have a clear route for new drugs to be appraised through the long standing Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC).
Where SMC accept medicines for routine use in Scotland, Health boards are expected to make the medicine or its equivalent available to patients. SMC published ‘accepted for restricted use’ advice on 8 August 2016 for ibrutinib(Imbruvica®) for treatment of adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), who have received at least one prior therapy, or in first line therapy in the presence of 17p deletion or TP53 mutation who are unsuitable for chemo-immunotherapy. This advice is line with the recent NICE decision for access to ibrutinib(Imbruvica®) in England and Wales.