SMC endorses use of epoetin delta in Scotland
Epoetin delta (Dynepo) is one of four medicines that were accepted for use within NHS Scotland last week. A further four medicines were rejected by the Scottish Medicines Consortium in its latest round of appraisals.
Epoetin delta was approved for the treatment of anaemia in patients with
chronic renal failure regardless of whether they are receiving dialysis.
The SMC also recommended that ciclesonide
inhaler (Alvesco) can be prescribed
within NHS Scotland at high doses (up to 640µg daily for up to
12 weeks) to control persistent asthma in adolescents and adults. The
SMC noted that the higher dose should be used in patients for whom ciclesonide
is an appropriate choice of maintenance inhaled corticosteroid therapy.
Alternative inhaled steroids are available at lower costs, it added.
Rivastigmine
transdermal patch (Exelon) was accepted for symptomatic
treatment of moderately severe Alzheimer’s dementia and conjugated
oestrogen 0.3mg tablets (Premarin) were accepted as hormonal replacement
therapy for oestrogen deficiency symptoms in postmenopausal women.
Erdosteine (Erdotin), as an expectorant for the symptomatic treatment
of acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis in adults, was rejected
because the manufacturer did not present a sufficiently robust clinical
or economic case.
The SMC said that sufficiently robust economic analyses were not presented
for adalimumab (Humira)
for the treatment of severe, active Crohn’s
disease or rufinamide (Inovelon)
as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut
syndrome.
Novartis did not
make a submission to the SMC regarding use of its product dexrazoxane (Cardioxane)
for the prevention of chronic cumulative cardiotoxicity caused by doxorubicin
or epirubicin use in advanced or metastatic cancer
patients after previous anthracycline-containing treatment.
These three products were therefore not recommended for use within
NHS Scotland for these indications. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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