The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7422 p442
14 October 2006

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NICE’s donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine view stands

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's draft recommendation that donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine should only be used for patients with moderately severe Alzheimer's disease will remain unchanged when its appraisal of Alzheimer's medicines is published next month.

NICE announced this week that appeals lodged by various stakeholders against the draft guidance (PJ, 28 January, p98) had been unsuccessful and that the draft guidance would not be extended to include patients with all stages of the disease. NICE will also still recommend that memantine only be used as part of clinical studies for people with moderately severe to severe Alzheimer’s disease.

The institute is delaying the publication of the appraisal to coincide with a clinical guideline on the treatment and care of people with dementia, produced jointly with the Social Care Institute for Excellence.