Recent reports that NICE was to be bypassed by drugs which were “innovative,” with funding from a new separate budget, sent me in search of the source report - the Life Sciences Blueprint, a statement from the Office of Life Sciences . more…

” Appraising the value of innovation and other benefits: a short study for NICE, ” the report by Sir Ian Kennedy contains one of the best critiques of the new buzz word “innovation” but perversely goes some way to recommending it be included in cost effectiveness. more…

The report of this judgment made me laugh out loud several times. Mr Justice Holman twice describes proceedings  as “bizarre”. A key confidentiality agreement with Dr Kanis  could not be found. “Perceived conflicts of interest” led the  removal of  Dr Kanis  from NICE’s Guideline Development Group. Dr Kanis  went on to make a statement expressly “on behalf of Servier”, the company which brought the judicial review. The findings of the judicial review do not appear to go further than  making the confidential data available to consultees. more…

NICE’s  latest technology appraisal of the  flu antiviral drugs (amantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir), published in February 2009  marks the sixth time these drugs have been considered. The timelines are  shown below. more…

One approach to setting NICE’s cost per QALY threshold might be to survey the public.  In 2003 NICE and the Department of Health did just that, with a study  “assessing  the feasibility of estimating the value that the UK population might attach to a QALY.” more…

In December 2008 the Department of Health in England published the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme.  It describes how  the scheme will operate for at least five years from 2009. The previous scheme was to run to 2010 but the UK government withdrew it in February 2008 following a critical report from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). more…

Having recommended NHS use of sunitinib for renal cancer, the appraisal committee of the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued separate draft guidance for consultation, recommending against the use of bevacizumab, sorafenib, and temsirolimus, which - along with sunitinib - had been rejected for renal cancer in 2008. more…

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the UK drugs watchdog, is currently appraising the use of four drugs—bevacizumab, sorafenib, sunitinib, and temsirolimus—for the treatment of advanced or metastatic renal cell cancer. NICE has decided to split this appraisal in two, in order to get guidance out to the NHS as quickly as possible. more…