On the basis of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance, the next-generation kidney cancer drug 'Sutent' - also called Sunitinib - is all set to be funded by the NHS in England and Wales.

The NHS drugs watchdog NICE, which speeded up its guidance by splitting the evaluation of four kidney cancer drugs in two parts, will not be recommending the three other drugs - Nexavar, Avastin and Torisel - for NHS use.

One of the first drugs to have received approval as per the new guidance, Sutent will be proposed as a first-line treatment preference in the cases of advanced and metastatic renal cell carcinoma. An average six-week treatment cycle with Sutent will cost more than £3,000.

With the new NICE guidance issued, Health Minister Edwina Hart's two-week back decision-in-the-interim - asking Wales' 22 local health boards to fund all four kidney cancer drugs - will be displaced.

NICE CEO Andrew Dillon said that the organization ensured the advisory committees had "enough flexibility to make a recommendation where drugs have the ability to give people some additional life."

Sutent manufacturer, Pfizer, will be providing the first cycle of Sutent free to the NHS. Dr David Gillen, Pfizer's medical director, said the company was delighted about NICE guidance, which would "enable UK patients to benefit from Sutent, a medicine that has become the new standard of care in the rest of the world." (Harkiran contributed to this report)