UK industry "very disappointed" as NICE confirms that it will make PADs

The Board of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence for Englandand Wales has confirmed, at its meeting on February 6, the decision it took last November to increase the transparency of its technology appraisal process by publishing both its Provisional and Final Appraisal Determinations on its web site. Formal consultees will now receive copies of PADs and FADs five working days before their publication on the site.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry told the Marketletter that it was very disappointed that the Board had now confirmed this decision, which would not be helpful to anyone. Placing on the web site a decision which might be altered or even overturned completely for everyone to see, and worry about, creates great uncertainty and is not good for patients, doctors or the industry, said a spokesman.

The Board had voted for this change last November, and had since then consulted with its stakeholders and the Financial Services Authority. This followed several instances of confidential documents being leaked to the media, and NICE chairman Sir Michael Rawlins said the confidentiality provision introduced at the request of the ABPI and the Association of British Health Care Industries was "unsustainable." In requesting the provision, the ABPI and ABHI had warned that premature release of the contents of PADs could be share price-sensitive and create unnecessary anxiety for patients.