NICE backs first 'take at home' prostate cancer pill

Thousands of men in the UK with advanced hormone-sensitive prostate cancer could soon be eligible for an oral therapy – Accord Healthcare's Orgovyx – that can be taken at home rather than requiring an injection in a clinic.

Orgovyx (relugolix) – an androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) – has been recommended by health technology assessment agency NICE for use by the NHS in final draft guidance, making it an option for an estimated 40,000 patients with the disease in England and Wales.

The guidance is due to come into effect in mid-August, after a comment period, and Orgovyx is also being considered for the same indication by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC).

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men across the UK with 51,000 new cases diagnosed in England in 2022, with almost 10 times as many men living with or after the condition.

"Relugolix provides a convenient and flexible treatment option compared with therapies that need to be injected, helping people to avoid travel and time off work, and the evidence shows it can improve people's quality of life," said Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation at NICE.

Orgovyx, which lowers levels of testosterone by blocking the production of the hormone in the testes, has been approved in the UK since June 2022, becoming the first and only oral GnRH receptor antagonist on the market.

Current injectable drugs in the class include leuprorelin, triptorelin, goserelin, and buserelin, and people men with advanced hormone-sensitive prostate cancer are normally offered ADT with these drugs, surgery, or radiotherapy.

In a phase 3 trial, Orgovyx was found to be more effective than a depot injection of leuprolide at suppressing testosterone to the levels needed to treat the cancer, and also reduced the risk of serious cardiovascular events like heart attacks and heart failure, which is known to be raised with ADT therapy.

Amy Rylance, assistant director of health improvement at patient organisation Prostate Cancer UK, said: "It's fantastic news that relugolix has been approved for potentially tens of thousands of men with advanced prostate cancer."

She added: "This drug can not only help keep the cancer at bay but could be a game-changer in terms of men's experience of treatment. All this makes it a major advance on what came before, and we're pleased to see so many men getting access to kinder, effective treatments like this one."

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