NICE rejects higher dose of Novartis' Glivec due to "insufficient" evidence

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence said it is unable to recommend Novartis' Glivec (imatinib) at increased doses to treat gastrointestinal stromal tumours, when standard doses have stopped working, due to insufficient new evidence. Chief Executive Andrew Dillon noted that "NICE already currently recommends Glivec at a dose of 400 milligram per day to treat gastrointestinal stromal tumours that cannot be removed by surgery." However, he added that "there have been no new, good-quality clinical and cost-effectiveness data produced on doses of 600 or 800 milligram per day."
Reference Articles
Insufficient new evidence on increased doses of imatinib for treating GISTs - (NICE)
UK health body rejects Glivec for high doses (free preview) - (The Wall Street Journal)
**Published in "First Word"