At its meeting on 9 June, the AIFA Board of Directors gave the green light for the reimbursement of seven extensions of therapeutic indications. Four of these relate to two innovative medicines indicated for use in oncology.

Three indications concern the innovative medicine Blincyto (blinatumomab), a bispecific monoclonal antibody that works by directing the patient’s immune system to target cancer cells. Blincyto is indicated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children, and will be reimbursed as monotherapy, for the treatment of patients aged 1 month or older for both paediatric indications, and as part of consolidation therapy for the treatment of adult patients with newly diagnosed B-cell precursor ALL, CD19-positive, Philadelphia chromosome-negative and minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative following the induction phase.

Another extension of therapeutic indication to be reimbursed by the NHS concerns the anti-cancer drug Imbruvica (ibrutinib), for the treatment of adult patients with mantle cell lymphoma.

The monoclonal antibody Omvoh (mirikizumab), already covered by the National Health Service for the indication of ulcerative colitis, will also be reimbursed for Crohn’s disease. For the treatment of ulcerative colitis, the monoclonal antibody Skyrizi (risankizumab), already covered by the NHS for other indications, will be reimbursed.

Finally, Flebogamma Dif (human normal immunoglobulin) will be reimbursed for pre/post-exposure prophylaxis of measles in adults, children, and adolescents for whom active immunization is contraindicated or not recommended.