NICE ‘yes’ for Jetrea
pharmafile | October 23, 2013 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Jetrea, NHS, NICE, eye
Jetrea has completed its seemingly inexorable journey to NHS use in England and Wales for a rare eye condition following final NICE guidance recommending the drug.
The watchdog says the ThromboGenics brand, recommended earlier this year, should be an option for some people with vitreomacular traction, a condition whose characteristics include swelling, distorted vision and a hole in the macular area.
It can lead to loss of vision in the long run, and NICE says Jetrea (ocriplasmin) should only be used if an epiretinal membrane – a thin sheet of fibrous tissue on part of the retina – is not present, and patients have a stage II macular hole (full thickness with a diameter of 400 micrometres or less) or severe symptoms.
The condition, which is associated with ageing, occurs when the vitreous, a gel-like substance in the eye, pulls abnormally on the retina. It is not known how many people in the UK are affected.
NICE thinks £2,500 for an injection is value for money – perhaps not least because repeat injections are not recommended, which means this is the cost (excluding VAT) of a full course of treatment.
“Ocriplasmin injection represents a new and welcome option for patients with this condition and their clinicians, as it provides an alternative to ‘watch and wait’ and/or surgery,” explained Professor Carole Longson, Health Technology Evaluation Centre director at NICE.
However, the Scottish Medicines Consortium does not agree and has not recommended the drug for this condition on the NHS in Scotland.
Jetrea is the only non-surgical treatment for vitreomacular traction licensed in Europe and North America – marketing rights outside the US were sold by Belgium-based ThromboGenics, which developed the drug, to Novartis subsidiary Alcon last year in a deal worth over £240 million.
Analysts have suggested that annual sales could reach £215 million in those territories.
Adam Hill
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