Polatuzumab Vedotin

(asked on 29th November 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her Department's planned timescale is for the rollout of the drug Polivy through the NHS.


Answered by
Andrew Stephenson Portrait
Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 5th December 2023

The NHS in England is legally required to make funding available for medicines recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), usually within three months of final guidance. For cancer medicines, funding is available through the Cancer Drugs Fund from the point NICE issues positive draft guidance.

NICE published guidance in September 2020 that recommends polatuzumab vedotin (Polivy) with rituximab and bendamustine for treating relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. NICE also published guidance in March 2023 that recommends polatuzumab vedotin with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and prednisolone (R‑CHP) for untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma subject to specified clinical criteria. It is therefore routinely available as a treatment option for eligible National Health Service patients with these conditions, in line with NICE’s recommendations.

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