Latest news with #NICE
BBC News
2 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Breakthrough Alzheimer's drugs too pricey to be offered on NHS
Two breakthrough Alzheimer's drugs have been deemed far too expensive, for too little benefit, to be offered on the medicines are the first to slow the disease, which may give people extra time living National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) concluded they were a poor use of taxpayers' money and said funding them could lead to other services being say it is a disappointment, but dementia experts have also supported the decision. The two drugs, donanemab and lecanemab, both help the body clear a gungy protein that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer's medicines do not reverse or even stop the disease, rather brain power is lost more slowly with trials of these drugs were celebrated as a scientific triumph as they showed, for the first time, it was possible to change the course of Alzheimer' since then a row has developed over the cost of the drugs and how meaningful the benefit is. The official price in the US is £20,000-£25,000 per patient per year. What the NHS would pay is 70,000 people in England with mild dementia would have been eligible, potentially putting the bill in the region of £1.5bn a year for the drugs resources, including regularly infusing the drugs directly into spinal fluid and frequent brain scans to manage dangerous side effects, would also massively ramp up the cost. The benefit of the drugs is also debated. They potentially delay the transition from mild to moderate dementia by four-to-six months. That could mean more time without needing daily care, driving, being present for significant family events and Prof Rob Howard, from University College London, said real-world benefits "were too small to be noticeable". In trials of lecanemab, patients were better off by 0.45 points, on an 18-point scale ranging from healthy to severe he said the cost would "have been close to the cost of a nurse's salary for each treated patient".The decision not to fund the drugs is not a surprise. The first assessment last year concluded they were not Knight, director of medicines evaluation at NICE, acknowledged the latest news would be "disappointing" but said the benefits were "modest" at best while requiring "substantial resources"."If they were approved they could displace other essential treatments and services that deliver significant benefits to patients," she said. NICE said its appraisal had factored in potential savings in the cost of providing care, but the drugs were still deemed decisions apply to the NHS in England, but are normally adopted by Wales and Northern Ireland too. Scotland has its own method for approving pharmaceutical companies have three weeks to raise concerns about how the review was performed, otherwise the decision becomes final on 23 pharmaceutical companies involved, Eisai for lecanemab and Eli Lilly for donanemab, say they will appeal against the decision. Nick Burgin, from Eisai said the NHS "is not ready" for the challenge of tackling Alzheimer's and flaws in the process meant their drug would have been rejected "even if Eisai provided lecanemab to the NHS for free".Eli Lilly, the company behind donanemab, has already expressed its disappointment. "If the system can't deliver scientific firsts to NHS patients, it is broken," said Chris Stokes, Eli Lilly's president and general manager of UK and Northern Europe. Is this a distraction or a disappointment? The sentiment was echoed by both the Alzheimer's charities. Prof Fiona Carragher, from the Alzheimer's Society said "the science is flying but the system is failing" and it was "highly disappointing" the drugs were not available on the Evans-Newton, the chief executive at Alzheimer's Research UK, said the result was "painful" and patients will miss out on this and future innovations "not because science is failing, but because the system is".However, others say NICE has made the right call. Tom Dening, professor of dementia research at the University of Nottingham, said he was "in complete support" as the benefits of the drugs were "minimal" and a "distraction" from the real issues in dementia."[Namely the] unglamorous challenge of providing people with dementia and their families with activities, care and support that we already know are beneficial for their mental and physical health," he Atticus Hainsworth, from St George's, University of London, said: "NICE is simply doing its job."Beyond lecanemab and donenamab there are 138 dementia medicines being tested in 182 trials around the Tara Spires-Jones, director of the centre for discovery brain sciences at the University of Edinburgh, said: "There is hope for safer, more effective treatments on the horizon."
Reuters
2 days ago
- Health
- Reuters
Lilly to appeal after UK agency opposes reimbursement for Alzheimer's drug
June 19 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab said on Thursday it would appeal against a UK agency's recommendation to not reimburse the cost of Alzheimer's drug Kisunla, blocking access for patients seeking treatment under the country's state-run health service. The U.S.-based drugmaker plans to appeal on the grounds that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's (NICE) recommendation was unreasonable based on the evidence the company, clinical experts and patient groups have submitted. Kisunla was approved in the UK last year to treat mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease. NICE, which determines the cost-effectiveness of treatments paid for by public funds, had at the time deemed Lilly's drug too expensive for wide use. Leqembi, a rival drug from Eisai (4523.T), opens new tab and Biogen (BIIB.O), opens new tab, was also deemed too costly for UK's state-run health service in August last year. NICE's reimbursement recommendation marks another hurdle for Lilly's drug, after the EU medicines regulator in March rejected Kisunla saying the treatment's ability to slow cognitive decline was not significant enough to outweigh the risk of serious brain swelling in patients. Both Kisunla and Leqembi are designed to clear sticky clumps of a protein called amyloid beta in the brain, believed to be a hallmark of Alzheimer's. They entered the market after decades of failed attempts to combat the mind-wasting disease. Adoption of the drugs has been slow in the United States due to the complexities involved with their use, such as the need for extra diagnostic tests and regular brain scans to monitor for potentially serious side effects.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Petition for cancer treatment to be funded reaches 46,000 signatories
More than 46,000 people have signed a petition calling on the NHS to fund a life-changing cancer treatment for patients with neuroendocrine tumours (NETs). The cancer charity Planets is leading the campaign for the treatment, known as selective internal radiation therapy (Sirt), to be made available through the NHS after it was approved for use more than a year ago. A spokesman for the charity said: 'Every year approximately 6,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with NETs, a complex and often slow-growing cancer that can be difficult to detect and treat. 'Many patients develop tumours in the liver where the treatment could offer significant benefits. 'Sirt involves injecting millions of tiny radioactive beads called microspheres – smaller than the width of a human hair – into the blood supply in the liver to destroy cancer cells.' The spokesman said that despite approval by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in May 2024, NHS England had yet to commission it meaning that patients had no timetable for when it might become available. He added that Sirt was already available on the NHS for patients whose liver cancer developed in the organ directly or which had spread to it from the bowel but NET patients remained excluded. Layla Stephen, a NET patient from Hampshire and director of strategy and finance for Planets, said: ' Patients are missing out simply because of red tape. 'Without NHS commissioning, only those that can afford to go private have access to Sirt and that is simply not right or fair – we need to change this.' Ms Stephen added: 'In a statement earlier this year, NHS England said it was developing a national policy on Sirt to ensure all patients across England have the best possible treatment, yet there is still no confirmed timeline despite approval in May last year, leaving patients in limbo and suffering agonising uncertainty.' Caroline Nokes, Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North, has written to health and social care secretary Wes Streeting about the issue. She said: 'Constituents of mine with neuroendocrine tumours should not be caught in a bureaucratic limbo when effective treatment is both available and approved. There needs to be fairness and transparency for these patients.' An NHS spokeswoman said previously: 'The NHS understands the concerns raised about access to selective internal radiation therapy (Sirt) for neuroendocrine tumours in the liver. 'The health service is currently reviewing a clinical proposal and developing a new national mandated NHS policy on Sirt to ensure all patients across England have the best possible treatment for their liver metastases.' The petition can be found at:
ITV News
3 days ago
- Health
- ITV News
Calls for greater understanding of epilepsy as report reveals health board failings
A woman from Merthyr Tydfil says people need be "more aware" when is comes to understanding epilepsy. Melissa Davidge, 42, was diagnosed with the condition as a child, and takes around 14 tablets a day to help with the severity and frequency of her seizures. Over the years, her seizures have led to numerous accidents, including broken bones. In one serious incident, she fell into a hot bath during an episode, resulting in third-degree burns and a month-long hospital stay. Daily tasks present a challenge for Melissa, who depends on her family for support, with her sister helping with tasks like ironing to prevent serious accidents. "People should understand that there are more than one type of seizures... they always think you're going to fall to the floor, start shaking and that's the tonic-clonic seizure, but there are many types of different seizures you can have," she said. "Sometimes I can just be drifting into space, or in my own little world. My family can understand and recognise it... but there are loads of different types and people should understand that." Her husband Kevin Davidge helps to care for Melissa. He said despite days when there are no seizures, they never know when the next is coming. "You have to be on high alert all the time," he said. A new report by Epilepsy Action Cymru found every single health board in Wales is failing to meet treatment standards for a first epileptic seizure. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines state patients should be seen by specialists within two weeks of having their first seizure, but no health board in Wales is meeting this target, with 43% of patients not being referred to a specialist service after their first seizure. The report also highlights Wales is facing a neurology workforce shortage. While some progress has been made, the charity says this not enough to give patients the care they need. Janet Paterson, Wales manager at Epilepsy Action, said: 'There is still so much to be done to reach the right level of care for people with epilepsy in Wales. We're nowhere near where we need to be. 'Too many patients keep telling us they're waiting months for an appointment, or they can't get a hold of a neurologist because they have too many patients. And the data speaks. It's practically impossible to serve a population of over 30,000 people with epilepsy with a dozen specialists. 'Not just this, Wales has a higher rate of incidence of epilepsy than the rest of the UK and the epilepsy population is growing, but services continue to be underfunded and, very obviously, not meeting the standards. This needs to change. Now.' A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "We have set out what we expect of health boards to ensure people living with or affected by a neurological condition, including epilepsy, have timely and equitable access to high-quality services. 'We recognise the workforce challenges affecting the number of specialists for neurological conditions and are working with the clinical network, as well as Epilepsy Action Cymru, to address this.'
Times
4 days ago
- Health
- Times
Natural birth v caesarean — what the latest statistics tell us
D octors in the UK are never short of reading material thanks to a continual stream of new guidance on various aspects of clinical practice, the latest of which is designed to improve the quality of care for anyone considering a caesarean birth. Colleagues working in specialities such as dermatology and orthopaedics can choose to ignore topics like this but we GPs are expected to know something about everything, so I read it over the weekend and want to share some of the highlights. Not least because they help to dispel a myth that regularly pops up on social media: namely that having a caesarean means you can avoid the continence problems that affect so many women after giving birth. First though, a caveat. While the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has gone to great lengths to assimilate the best evidence out there, it remains far from perfect. Indeed Nice starts the section comparing the risks and benefits of vaginal and caesarean deliveries — for mother and baby — with a warning that, despite compiling data from 30 years' worth of international research, they are not as reliable as it would like.
