Ranibizumab dose-cap scheme for AMD patients revealed by NICE
Paul Parker/Science Photo Library
Macular degeneration |
Patients losing their sight because of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could have the cost of treatment with ranibizumab (Lucentis) covered by both the NHS and the drug’s manufacturer, under a dose-capping scheme revealed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence last week.
In the second part of its consultation on treatments for wet AMD, NICE
has also changed its view on treating patients only when the condition
has begun to affect both eyes.
Under the proposed arrangement the NHS would pay for a maximum of 14
ranibizumab injections for patients meeting specific criteria for wet
AMD, with any subsequent injections covered by Novartis, the drug’s
manufacturer.
A spokeswoman for Novartis told The Journal that
Novartis proposed the cost-sharing arrangement for Lucentis as part of
its response
to NICE’s original consultation on wet AMD drugs, adding that the
company is still in discussions with NICE as part of its consultation.
NICE said that any such scheme would need to be agreed by both the manufacturer
and the Department of Health.
In its original
draft guidance NICE recommended that ranibizumab only
be used in England and Wales to treat the second affected eye (PJ,
7 July 2007, p5).
NICE chief executive Andrew Dillon said: “Two key issues in particular
were highlighted by those who responded: first, that allowing the first
eye to deteriorate would cause anxiety and depression; and two, that
treating only the second eye could mean losing the chance to preserve
vision if it was affected by untreatable vision loss or didn’t
respond to treatment. NICE has taken these concerns on board, and
now recommends treating the first eye to come to clinical attention.”
In line with its original draft, NICE still does not recommend the use
of pegaptanib (Macugen) for wet AMD.
This second wave of the consultation closes on 14 January 2008.
The draft documents are available online
NICE Advice
on how to change practice has been issued by the National
Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
The guide was launched
at the institute’s
annual conference held in Manchester earlier this month and is
designed to encourage health care professionals and managers to
change their practice in line with evidence-based guidance. |
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