December 29, 2021 News by Yedida Y Bogachkov PhD NHS England and Wales to Offer Ponvory at Low or No Cost for RRMS Note: This story was updated Jan. 12, 2022, to note that Ponvory is approved in the U.K. for people with relapsing forms of MS who have active disease, defined by clinical or imaging features. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended that Ponvory (ponesimod)…
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 country’s national health service (NHS). The poor cost-effectiveness of Fampyra — sold…
October 16, 2020 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Mayzent Approved for Active SPMS Patients in England and Wales Mayzent (siponimod) has become the first oral medication to be approved for people with active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) in England and Wales. Following this decision by England’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) — which reversed its opinion announced in June — the…
June 26, 2020 News by Marisa Wexler, MS NICE Does Not Favor Adding Mayzent to NHS England for Active SPMS The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is recommending against 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 NICE’s draft guidance for Mayzent is open…
April 21, 2020 Columns by Jessie Ace MS Patients Face Additional Barriers Due to the Coronavirus Well, this is super weird. Being told to stay home and leave our houses only for food, medication, or exercise is bizarre for those of us in England. It’s starting to take a toll on my mental health. The other day, I stood in line at…
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 treat 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 Sativex 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…
March 17, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD In Reversal, NICE Recommends Relapsing MS Treatment Zinbryta for England and Wales The United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has cleared its initial doubts and now recommends Zinbryta (daclizumab) to treat relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) in England and Wales. NICE had initially rejected Zinbryta after a first stage of the drug’s review process, due to some issues linked to…
August 23, 2016 News by Inês Martins, PhD Only 47% of Primary Care Doctors in England ‘Confident’ in Treating MS Patients General practitioners (GPs) in England lack confidence in initially assessing and referring onward people with neurological symptoms, especially those with multiple sclerosis, and believe they could benefit from better training in identifying and managing neurological patients. One result, according to a report published by the Neurological Alliance, titled “Neurology and primary care: improving the…
