UK DRUG COSTS WATCHDOG STIRS ALZHEIMER'S CONTROVERSY

UK healthcare cost-effectiveness panel the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has continued to question the value of innovative treatments for Alzheimer's disease. In March, the body controversially proposed that reimbursement be removed for four leading therapies based on a new cost-benefit assessment.

Since that time, NICE has modified its position, and although it continues to insist that the drugs should not be prescribed regularly the watchdog acknowledges that they are effective in delaying the onset of major symptoms in a minority of patients. All four of the products -- which include Pfizer and Eisai's Aricept -- are widely reimbursed in the leading global drug markets.

Unsurprisingly, local Alzheimer's lobby groups have denounced the plans, noting that the drugs' efficacy has been proven in more than 30 clinical trials. Only about 5% of the UK's estimated 750,000 sufferers are believed to take any of the four products -- also including Shire/Johnson & Johnson's Reminyl, Novartis' Exelon and Lundbeck's Ebixa.

NICE has now suggested that it will delay issuing formal guidance on reimbursement of the products, pending a re-evaluation of their therapeutic efficacy. Nevertheless, academic sources have commented that any attempt to judge the reliability of each compound against competitors is likely to have potential pitfalls, as each drug may be more or less effective in each patient. A decision on the drugs -- which can cost up to GBP1,000 (US$1,739.12) per patient per year -- is expected after any new studies have been carried out in October.