The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7177 p805-809
8 December 2001

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NICE to appraise drugs before launch

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence intends to start its technology appraisals before new medicines are marketed, Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, chairman of NICE, said at its conference in London on 5 December.

Professor Rawlins pointed out that, at the start of the NICE appraisal programme, the pharmaceutical industry believed that appraising new products straight after launch would be impossible.

"NICE has appraised 11 new pharmaceuticals and in only one instance has the industry appealed against the institute’s advice," he said.

Dr Trevor Jones, director general of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, told The Journal after Professor Rawlins’s address: "On the whole, appraising new medicines before they have been marketed will not be possible." He added, though, that there might be rare occasions where early NICE appraisal would be appropriate.

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