NICE recommends Jyseleca ▼(filgotinib) on NHS in landmark decision for rheumatoid arthritis

  NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

 

• NICE guidance, for the first time in the UK, supports access to an advanced therapy for people with moderate as well as severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) - aiming to avoid irreversible damage as early as possible¹
• More than 400,000 people across the UK live with RA² and around 70% have moderate or severe disease³

Mechelen, Belgium, 21 January 2021, 08:05 CET –  Galapagos NV (Euronext & Nasdaq: GLPG) today welcomed the news that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued a final appraisal determination (FAD) recommending the use of the daily oral pill, JYSELECA▼ (filgotinib) on the National Health Service (NHS) in England for the treatment of eligible adult patients with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).¹ It is the first time in the UK that an advanced therapy has been recommended in people with moderate RA, offering thousands more the potential to achieve remission earlier - potentially slowing the irreversible damage and life-limiting symptoms RA can cause.² RA is a degenerative auto-immune disease that can cause life-threatening complications.⁴ The sooner treatment begins, the better the chance of slowing disease progression.² With thousands of people potentially eligible, the recommendation could help improve many lives as well as lessen the significant societal burden RA has in England.^5,6

 “We are delighted with the NICE recommendation for Jyseleca today. For patients with moderate to severe RA in England this decision represents a significant new opportunity and especially for those with moderate symptoms who can now receive an advanced treatment earlier,” said Onno van de Stolpe, Galapagos CEO.

Filgotinib is a once daily oral pill that can be given on its own (as a monotherapy) or used alongside another common RA medicine, called methotrexate.⁷ Eligible patients with moderate or severe RA will have responded inadequately to intensive therapy with 2 or more conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).¹ Eligible patients with severe disease will also have wider access to filgotinib in line with criteria defined by NICE. Filgotinib is an advanced therapy which, in RA, is a term used to describe biologic DMARDs and targeted synthetic DMARDs.¹