NICE announces change of heart on Alzheimer’s
pharmafile | October 7, 2010 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Alzheimer's, Aricept, Ebixa, Exelon, NICE, Reminyl
NICE is set to update its guidance on treatments for Alzheimer´s disease, widening access to four drugs.
The draft guidance extends NICE’s recommendation for the use of Pfizer/Eisai’s Aricept, Shire’s Reminyl and Novartis’s Exelon to include mild, as well as moderate disease.
It also recommends the use of Lundbeck’s Ebixa for severe disease and for some patients with moderate disease.
Chief executive, Sir Andrew Dillon, said: “Since we published our guidance in September 2007 clinical trials have continued to show the positive effects of these drugs and, in the case of memantine [Ebixa], have reduced the uncertainty about its clinical effectiveness.
“In addition, we now have more information about the costs of living with and treating this very distressing disease, as it progresses through its mild, moderate and severe stages.”
The Alzheimer’s Society’s interim chief executive Ruth Sutherland said: “The drugs aren’t a miracle cure but they can make important differences to people’s lives.
“For the price of a cup of coffee they can mean the difference between recognising your loved ones and playing with your grandchildren.
“It is critical that this draft decision becomes a reality and that all people with Alzheimer’s are given the opportunity to benefit from these treatments.”
Alzheimer’s has yet to set a major treatment breakthrough and the therapy area remains one of unmet medical need.
There are a number R&D projects in development for the disease but many are succumbing to late stage failures, including Lilly’s semagacestat in August and Pfizer’s dimebon back in March.
Any pharma firm that can crack the disease will open up a lucrative market as an ageing population has increased the incidence of the degenerative disease.
In June leading pharma companies including Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly, Roche-Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer, and Sanofi-Aventis came together for a major new research collaboration aimed at improving clinical trials for brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.
The draft NICE guidance is available here.
Ben Adams
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