The European Medicines Agency's CHMP granted a positive opinion supporting the licensing of a subcutaneous formulation of rituximab (1400mg) for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in January 2014.
According to Prescribing Outlook New Medicines 2013, subcutaneous rituximab will be an option for all patients with NHL for whom IV rituximab is currently indicated (those with poor venous access may be initial candidates). It is likely to cost the same as the current IV formulation but it could reduce outpatient preparation and administration time and may facilitate homecare delivery.
A number of rituximab biosimilars are currently under development, with UK launches currently estimated at 2015-2016. The availability of biosimilar IV formulations may affect the pricing strategy for subcutaneous rituximab.
A comment article published alongside the stage 1 results of the SABRINA study notes that stage 2 data are awaited; as are the final results of two further studies: SparkThera (maintenance rituximab for untreated and relapsed follicular lymphoma) and PrefMab (which is investigating patient preference for subcutaneous or IV rituximab plus chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or follicular lymphoma).