June 24, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD NICE Updates Its Guidelines for MS Management The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England has updated its guidelines for the diagnosis and management of adults with multiple sclerosisĀ (MS). Called Multiple sclerosis in adults: management, the new guidelines update and replace the 2014 recommendations and are meant to be followed by…
May 2, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS NICE Briefing Covers Icobrain System for Automated MRI Scans The National Institute for Health and Care Evidence (NICE) in England has issued a briefing on the use ofĀ Icometrix‘s icobrain system to assess disease activity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) based on MRI scans. The NICE statement was in the form of a medtech innovation briefing, or…
April 14, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Vumerity Added to NHS of England for People With Active RRMS The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has added oralĀ Vumerity (diroximel fumarate), approved to treatĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosisĀ (RRMS) in the U.K., to the list of medications available through the public health program for England. Because the therapy has been recommended through a fast track appraisal process, Vumerity…
December 20, 2021 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD NICE Still Opposes Adding Fampyra to NHS for England The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England is set to again recommend against adding Fampyra (fampridine) to the list of medications available to multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with walking difficulties through the countryās national health service (NHS). The poor cost-effectiveness of Fampyra ā sold…
October 11, 2021 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD NICE Opposes Ponvory Being Added to NHS for England and Wales The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) will not recommend that Ponvory (ponesimod) be added to the National Health Service (NHS) of England and Wales for people with active, relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The provisional decision, made because Ponvory was not found to be…
May 17, 2021 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD NICE Again Says No to Adding Zeposia to Health System for England and Wales The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has maintained its initial draft recommendation and will not recommend that Zeposia (ozanimod) be added to the National Health Service (NHS) of England and Wales. This final decision on the cost effectiveness of the oral therapy means Zeposia will…
February 1, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Pediatric MS, Rituximab, AHSCT, Zeposia Tecfidera Safe and Effective Over Long Term in Children With RRMS, Trial Shows In my view, too little attention has been paid to treating children and teens with MS between the ages of 10 and 18. Though things seem to be improving, only one disease-modifying therapy, Novartisā Gilenya (fingolimod),…
January 25, 2021 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD NICE Opposes Zeposia Being Added to RRMS Therapies in UK’s Health Service The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) does not recommend Zeposia (ozanimod) be available at low or no cost through the National Health Service (NHS) to treat adults with active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS)Ā living in England and Wales. In a recentĀ draft recommendation, NICE stated thatĀ …
June 29, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Mayzent, Hookworm Therapy, Walking and Falling, ADS-5102 NICE Does Not Favor Adding Mayzent to NHS England for Active SPMS Currently, the only disease-modifying therapy approved for use in the National Health Service is Betaferon (interferon beta-1b). That’s a 20-year-old treatment considered to be one of the least effective of the DMTs. NICE concedes that clinical trials…
June 26, 2020 News by Marisa Wexler, MS NICE Does Not Favor Adding Mayzent to NHS England for Active SPMS TheĀ National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is recommending againstĀ Mayzent (siponimod) as a treatment for active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) in the U.K., because its cost-effectiveness relative to an existing treatment for these patients is not known. NICE’s draft guidance for Mayzent is open…
January 27, 2020 News by Marisa Wexler, MS NICE Approves Plegridy as RRMS Treatment Offered by NHS England The National Institute for Health Care and Excellence (NICE) in the U.K. issued its final decision, approving the inclusion of Plegridy (peginterferon beta-1a) to treatĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in England within the National Health Service (NHS). This decision follows a cost-effectiveness review done in May 2018,…
November 13, 2019 News by Mary Chapman Sativex, Cannabis Extract for MS Spasticity, Now Available to Select Patients in England The cannabis sativa plant extract SativexĀ is a cost-effective therapy for spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) and can be offered to patients in England needing it on at least a monthlong trial basis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said in issuing a final…
August 12, 2019 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD NICE and NHS England Oppose Sativex to Treat Spasticity in MS, Urge More Studies of Medical Cannabis A draft guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), a U.K. advisory board, and a reviewĀ by Englandās National Health Service (NHS) call for more research into medical cannabis forĀ multiple sclerosisĀ and other conditions. NICE also recommended against prescribingĀ SativexĀ as a treatment for…
May 13, 2019 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD Ocrevus Approved in UK as First NHS Treatment for PPMS After firstĀ rejecting it due to cost-effectiveness concerns, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has now approved the use of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) for people in the U.K. with early, inflammatory primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). This means that PPMS patients living in the…
February 11, 2019 News by Jonathan Grinstein Petition Urges NHS England to Make Ocrevus Available for PPMS Patients More than 21,000 people have signed a petition calling for Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) to be made available by the National Health Service (NHS) in England for people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). According to anĀ MS Trust press release, the…
December 11, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Consensus Lacking on How MS Medications Are Prescribed in the UK Living in the U.S., where disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) seem to be prescribed as a matter of course to people with multiple sclerosis (MS), I was surprised that it doesn’t seem to be the case across the pond in the U.K. An article just published on the Multiple…
November 5, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Ocrevus in the UK, Environmental Triggers, PPMS Research NICE Postpones Final Opinion on Adding Ocrevus to Public Health System for PPMS Patients in UK This last-minute reprieve from the agency that dictates which medications may be prescribed for patients of the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) is welcome news. Last summer, the National Institute for…
November 2, 2018 News by Vijaya Iyer, PhD NICE Postpones Final Opinion on Adding Ocrevus to Public Health System for PPMS Patients in UK A final and weighty opinion regarding whetherĀ Ocrevus (ocrelizumab)Ā will be among treatments available at low or no cost to primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) patients in England and Wales ā through the National Health Service (NHS) āĀ has been put on hold, according to the Multiple Sclerosis Trust. The…
September 12, 2018 News by Diogo Pinto NICE Rules Against Bringing Ocrevus into NHS for Primary Progressive Patients in UK The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, better known as NICE, issued a final decision against includingĀ Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as a treatment for primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) in the subsidized public health system for England and Wales. The agency’s “final appraisal,” which mirrors its draft…
July 13, 2018 Columns by John Connor Steering My Own Boat and Making a Splash The U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) turned 70 last week. In England, yes, we are mourning our semi-final defeat by Croatia in the World Cup, but to most of us, the NHS is the U.K.’s crowning glory. There are innumerable problems and proposed solutions involving the institution, yet…
July 9, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD NICE Agrees to Add Ocrevus to NHS for RRMS Patients in England and Wales, But Scotland Will Not Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients with active disease may now be treated with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab, developed byĀ Genentech) within the National Health Service (NHS) ā the subsidized public health system that covers England and Wales. But those in Scotland will not. The National Institute for Health and…
July 3, 2018 News by Vijaya Iyer, PhD NICE Opposes Ocrevus as PPMS Treatment in UK’s Public-funded Health System The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, known as NICE, has decided against recommending thatĀ Ocrevus be part of public-funded treatments for adults withĀ primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). The National Health Service (NHS) is the subsidized, publicly funded healthcare system for England, with similar structures…
May 29, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Pressure in the UK Helps Lower MS Therapy Costs. But What About the US? In the United States, the government can do very little to control the costs of our expensive MS medications. In the United Kingdom, it’s a different story. The U.K. has an organization called the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, better known as NICE. NICE provides healthcare…
May 16, 2018 News by Patricia Silva, PhD 4 Relapsing MS Treatments Added to UK Health Service After Cuts to Prices Agreed After an agreement to lower their prices, four treatments for relapsing multiple sclerosis āĀ Biogenās AvonexĀ and Merck KGaA‘sĀ Rebif (both interferon beta-1a), Novartisā ExtaviaĀ (interferon beta 1b), and Tevaās Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) ā were recommended as cost-effective and long-term therapy options within the National Health Service…
February 2, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc MS Trust Seeking PPMS Patients’ Views on Ocrevus as It Tries to Obtain British Coverage Britain’sĀ Multiple Sclerosis TrustĀ is asking patients to help them getĀ the National Health ServiceĀ to cover Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as a treatment forĀ primary progressive multiple sclerosis, or PPMS. The key step is trying to persuade the National Institute for Health and Care ExcellenceĀ to recommend that the health service…
January 23, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Who Are You to Tell Me What MS Therapy I Need? I’m used to seeing insurance companies here in the United States make decisions about MS therapies, including refusing to pay for certain treatments unless other, less expensive ones are tried first. These, of course, are decisions that should be made between patients and their doctors, not by insurers.
January 10, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Extavia Is the Only Therapy for MS with Relapses That Britain Should Cover, Board Says A British board that recommends what treatments the National Health ServiceĀ should cover has advised the system to use onlyĀ Extavia (interferon beta 1b) as a treatment for MS patients who continue to have relapses. Cost was at the heart of the National Institute for Health and Care…
December 22, 2017 News by Catarina Silva Britain’s National Health Service Likely to Cover the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Extavia Britain’sĀ National Health ServiceĀ should cover the multiple sclerosis therapy Extavia, the National Institute for Health and Care ExcellenceĀ (NICE) has recommended. The health service usually follows the institute’s recommendations. So NICE’s endorsement means there is a good chance the health service will begin covering the Extavia prescriptions that…
November 13, 2017 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD U.K.’s NICE Recommends Merck’s Mavenclad for Highly Active Multiple Sclerosis Merck’sĀ Mavenclad (cladribine tablets) is now a recommended treatment for British adults with highly active multiple sclerosis (MS), following the issuance of a final appraisal determination by the country’sĀ National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). The therapy ā given at a dosage of 10 mg ā received the…
March 17, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD In Reversal, NICE Recommends Relapsing MS Treatment Zinbryta for England and Wales The United Kingdom’sĀ National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has cleared its initial doubts and now recommendsĀ Zinbryta (daclizumab)Ā to treatĀ relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) in England and Wales. NICE had initially rejectedĀ Zinbryta after a first stage of the drugās review process, due to some issues linked to…