NICE

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…

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…

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 countryā€™s national health service (NHS). The poor cost-effectiveness of Fampyra ā€” sold…

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 NICE’s draft guidance for Mayzent is open…

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,…

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…

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…

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 ā€”Ā Biogenā€™s AvonexĀ and Merck KGaA‘sĀ Rebif (both interferon beta-1a), Novartisā€™ ExtaviaĀ (interferon beta 1b), and Tevaā€™s Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) ā€” were recommended as cost-effective and long-term therapy options within the National Health Service…

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.

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…