Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Anti-PD-L1 drug in treating bladder cancer.

Two Anti-PD monoclonal antibody products are being evaluated in clinical trials for various cancers, including bladder cancer.

MPDL3280A, an anti-PD-L1 antibody made by Roche/Genentech, is undergoing a phase I trial (NCT01375842) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumours. The estimated study completion date is November 2016. The product is also being tested in a phase II trial in in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial bladder cancer (NCT02108652). The estimated completion date for this Phase II trial is January 2016.

The second anti-PD antibody is Nivolumab produced by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Nivolumab on its own, or in combination with another monoclonal antibody ipilimumab (Yervoy®), is in a phase I/II trial in several cancers, including bladder cancer (NCT01928394). This trial is expected to be completed by March 2017.

No assessment of the data from any of these trials has been made to date.