02 November 2001
This week the Department of Health confirmed that it was negotiating with four manufacturers of beta interferon and the related drug, glatiramer acetate. It hopes to launch a trial to assess their effectiveness in reducing the number of attacks in patients with the relapsing-remitting form of the disease.
Clinicians are divided over their effectiveness. In an interim appraisal published in August, Nice said the drugs should not be made available on the NHS on clinical and cost-effectiveness grounds.
A full appraisal was due to be published on the Nice website on November 2 with guidance following in December.
Nice communications director Anne-Toni Rodgers insisted that the current negotiations were consistent with Nice's stance – a strategy 'to acquire any or all of the medicines in a manner that could be considered to be cost-effective'.
Up to 10,000 patients in England and Wales could benefit from the therapy, though at present it has been prescribed to only 2,000 people. But at a cost of up to £10,000 per patient a year, NHS managers will be worried the trial will hit already stretched local budgets.
The DoH confirmed that one option under discussion involved the NHS paying for the drugs used in the trial. 'We are looking at a range of options, including the possibility of a risk-sharing scheme. After a period of time an assessment would be made of whether the drug was working for patients. If it was, payments would continue. If not, payments to manufacturers would be reduced on a sliding scale.'
PFnov2001
