"Devastating" ruling for AD group as NICE wins judicial review

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the UK advisory body which recommends medical treatments in England and Wales under the National Health Service, has won five out of six counts of the judicial review in the High Court of its guidance on Alzheimer's disease drugs. The verdict was described as "devastating" by one patient group and one of the affected drugmakers has already indicated its intention to appeal.

The case centered on a decision to refuse treatment for AD patients unless the condition had progressed beyond the mild to a moderate stage. Patients classified as severe AD cases would also be refused treatment. The drugs affected by the NICE ruling were: Aricept (donepezil) co-marketed by Japan's Eisei and global behemoth Pfizer; Switzerland-based drug major Novartis' Excelon (rivastigmine); and Reminyl (galantamine), co-marketed by USA-based health care giant Johnson & Johnson and the UK's Shire. All the drugs concerned are available in Scotland, which has a separate review body (Marketletters passim).

Emphatic victory for the NICE