Cemiplimab (Libtayo)

Key Messages

• CADTH recommends that Libtayo should be reimbursed by public drug plans for the first-line treatment of adult patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) expressing programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) with a Tumour Proportion Score (TPS) of 50% or greater, as determined by a validated test, with no epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) translocation, or c-Ros oncogene 1 (ROS-1) aberrations, who have locally advanced NSCLC and who are not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiation, or metastatic NSCLC if certain conditions are met.
• Libtayo should only be covered to treat patients who have metastatic NSCLC or locally advanced NSCLC that cannot be treated with surgery or chemoradiation, whose tumours have high levels of PD-L1 protein, whose tumours do not have abnormal EGFR, ALK, or ROS1 genes, and who have no prior systemic treatment for advanced or metastatic NSCLC.
• Libtayo should be prescribed by clinicians with expertise and experience in treating NSCLC and treatment should be supervised and delivered in outpatient specialized oncology clinics. The price of Libtayo should be negotiated so that it does not exceed the cost of treatment with pembrolizumab.