SMC approves extensions for Herceptin and Velcade
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
The Scottish Medicines Consortium, Scotland's health technology appraisal body, has given the thumbs up for extensions of Roche/Halozyme's Herceptin (trastuzumab) and Janssen's Velcade (bortezomib). Scottish physicians are now at liberty to prescribe a subcutaneous formulation of Herceptin for HER-2 positive breast cancer, and Janssen's Velcade for us as part of an induction treatment for patients with multiple myeloma who are eligible for high-dose chemotherapy with haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.