Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHSNICE backs arthritis drugs
A range of drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis could be used by thousands of patients after the health watchdog issued new guidance that effectively reverses a decision from two years ago.
NICE ruled in 2008 that patients could not try a second anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha inhibitor if their first therapy attempt had failed.
In March, new guidance was issued which stated that rituximab (MabThera) could be used, but adalimumab (Humira), etanercept (Enbrel) and infliximab (Remicade) were only to be used for research purposes, even for sufferers who had failed on one anti-TNF. Abatacept was also rejected in the guidance.
However, in what is effectively a U-turn, NICE has cleared rituximab to be used by patients who have failed to respond to an anti-TNF or who have not responded to other disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs.
Adalimumab, abatacept, etanercept and infliximab have been given the go-ahead to be used by patients who cannot take rituximab.
The new advice, however, did specify that rituximab should not be administered more than every six months and should only be used in the long-term if there is a good response in the patient. The other drugs being continued are also reliant on how the sufferer responds to them.
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Readers' comments (1)
mike | 25-Jun-2010 1:26 pm
It may back them, but it will probably deny them to everyone soon because they cost 'too much'!
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