Cancer Research UK Oks Champix approval

A mixed response has greeted the recommendation of global drug behemoth Pfizer's smoking-cessation drug, Champix (varenicline), by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, the UK advisory body which recommends medical treatments, including drugs, in England and Wales under the National Health Service (Marketletter July 30).

Recent high profile cases concerning the NICE's restriction of refusal to endorse certain therapies for Alzheimer's disease, cancer and age-related macular degeneration (Marketletters passim), have put the agency in the spotlight, especially as some of the diseases are smoking-related. However, Cancer Research UK, a charity which funds cancer research and care, issued a statement which claimed that, "the drug's approval will be welcomed by the thousands of people who are believed to be trying to quit smoking following the launch of smokefree legislation in England on July 1."

The UK Parliament is scrutinizing the NICE over its criteria for endorsing the use of certain drugs, the Daily Telegraph reports. US drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb, as well as 19 other drugmakers, gave evidence to the House of Commons' Health Select Committee. A B-MS spokesman accused the NICE of basing its decisions on "what can be afforded, not what is best for patients."