Infliximab endorsed for severe psoriasis
Infliximab has been recommended as a treatment for severe psoriasis in the NHS in England and Wales by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
It is recommended as a treatment option for adults with plaque psoriasis when the patient has a total Psoriasis Area Severity Index of 20 or more and a Dermatology Life Quality Index of more than 18 and has failed to respond to, or is unsuitable for treatment with, standard systemic therapies (such as ciclosporin, methotrexate or psoralen and long-wave ultraviolet radiation).
Infliximab treatment should be continued beyond 10 weeks only in people whose psoriasis has shown an adequate response to treatment within this time, NICE says.
In separate guidance, also issued to the NHS in England and Wales this week, pemetrexed is recommended as a treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma.
NICE says that the drug’s use should be limited to treatment of people with advanced disease whose cancer is not suitable for surgical removal and who have a World Health Organization performance status of 0 or 1.
NICE stresses that patients already taking pemetrexed when its guidance was issued should continue treatment until they and their specialists decide that it is the right time to stop.
Dasatinib use in Wales
Dasatinib (Sprycel) has been recommended for restricted use within NHS Wales. The drug should be used to treat adults with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and accelerated-phase CML, the All-Wales Medicines Strategy Group has recommended, but only where there is resistance, or intolerance, to prior therapy (including imatinib mesilate). The use of dasatinib for blast-phase CML or Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia was not recommended.
The AWMSG decision was endorsed last week by Edwina Hart, Minister for Health and Social Services. The decision places an obligation on trusts and local health boards in Wales to fund treatment, but AWMSG advice is interim to any National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance subsequently issued. |
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader