Anthony Wilson RIP
Saturday, August 11th, 2007So it goes.
Archive for August, 2007
Jeremy Laurance writes
Saturday, August 11th, 2007
One issue has remained taboo in the two-year battle between campaigners and the UK's National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) over Alzheimer's drugs: how the drug companies set their prices.
While anger and scorn have been heaped on the Government's medicines watchdog for its inhumanity in denying the drugs to sufferers of a dreadful disease, the drug companies who make and market the drugs have escaped almost without criticism.
Yet there is a simple move they could make to win Nice's support for their treatments: reduce the cost of the drugs. Not a single response from patients' organisations and pressure groups to yesterday's High Court decision criticised the companies for failing to adjust what they charge in the light of the drugs' limited effectiveness. This is not surprising. Most of the organisations firing off angry press releases yesterday via PR companies are funded by the drug manufacturers.
The drugs are widely quoted as costing "only" 2.50 a day. But this ignores the fact they only work in some people -estimates range from 15 to 50 per cent. Their effect in the mild stages is also "very, very limited", Professor Michael Rawlins, chairman of Nice, said yesterday.
The problem of the affordability of drugs is set to get much worse. Nice is under fire for restricting access to a drug, Lucentis, to treat macular degeneration, the commonest cause of blindness, on the ground that, at 9,000 a year, it is not cost effective. But some primary care trusts have taken matters into their own hands by authorising doctors to use an equally effective alternative, Avastin, which is available at a fraction of the price but not licensed for ophthalmic use.
Waiting in the pipeline are a host of new cancer drugs costing up to 100,000 a patient which will impose new burdens on the NHS. Herceptin, the breast cancer drug, which costs around 20,000 a patient, is already forcing NHS trusts to find savings elsewhere to pay for it.
The NHS budget is not a bottomless purse. Decisions have to be made how to spend the available cash to get the best results. The Government announced last week that it is to review the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme, its drug pricing agreement with the industry, in order to get better value for money.
Only if that review delivers a cut in prices will the NHS be able to buy more treatments.
Source
While anger and scorn have been heaped on the Government's medicines watchdog for its inhumanity in denying the drugs to sufferers of a dreadful disease, the drug companies who make and market the drugs have escaped almost without criticism.
Yet there is a simple move they could make to win Nice's support for their treatments: reduce the cost of the drugs. Not a single response from patients' organisations and pressure groups to yesterday's High Court decision criticised the companies for failing to adjust what they charge in the light of the drugs' limited effectiveness. This is not surprising. Most of the organisations firing off angry press releases yesterday via PR companies are funded by the drug manufacturers.
The drugs are widely quoted as costing "only" 2.50 a day. But this ignores the fact they only work in some people -estimates range from 15 to 50 per cent. Their effect in the mild stages is also "very, very limited", Professor Michael Rawlins, chairman of Nice, said yesterday.
The problem of the affordability of drugs is set to get much worse. Nice is under fire for restricting access to a drug, Lucentis, to treat macular degeneration, the commonest cause of blindness, on the ground that, at 9,000 a year, it is not cost effective. But some primary care trusts have taken matters into their own hands by authorising doctors to use an equally effective alternative, Avastin, which is available at a fraction of the price but not licensed for ophthalmic use.
Waiting in the pipeline are a host of new cancer drugs costing up to 100,000 a patient which will impose new burdens on the NHS. Herceptin, the breast cancer drug, which costs around 20,000 a patient, is already forcing NHS trusts to find savings elsewhere to pay for it.
The NHS budget is not a bottomless purse. Decisions have to be made how to spend the available cash to get the best results. The Government announced last week that it is to review the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme, its drug pricing agreement with the industry, in order to get better value for money.
Only if that review delivers a cut in prices will the NHS be able to buy more treatments.
Source
Novartis - Prexige: the liver is evil - it must be punished!
Saturday, August 11th, 2007
Australia's medicines Regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has cancelled the registration of the osteoarthritis drug, lumiracoxib because of serious liver side effects associated with the use of the drug.
Lumiracoxib, marketed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals under the brand name of Prexige, is a Cox 2 inhibitor belonging to the group of medicines known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS).
Lumiracoxib was first approved in Australia in July 2004 but has only recently become widely used since being listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) in 2006. According to the TGA's Principal Medical Adviser, Dr Rohan Hammett, as of 10th August 2007 the TGA had received 8 reports of serious liver adverse reactions to the drug, including two deaths and two liver transplants.
"The TGA and its expert advisory committee, the Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee (ADRAC), have urgently investigated these reports. ADRAC has today recommended the cancellation of the registration of Lumiracoxib due to the severity of the reported side effects associated with this drug," Dr Hammett said.
"The TGA has taken this advice to cancel the registration of Lumiracoxib in order to prevent further cases of severe liver damage. "It seems that the longer people are on the medicine, the greater the chance of liver injury. The TGA is, therefore, advising people to stop taking the Lumiracoxib immediately and to discuss alternative treatments with their doctor," Dr Hammett said.
Approximately 60 000 people take Lumiracoxib in Australia which is typically prescribed for: symptomatic relief in the treatment of osteoarthritis, relief of acute pain, including post-operative pain and pain related to dental procedures and relief of pain due to primary dysmenorrhoea.
Further information can be obtained by contacting the TGA Info Line on 1800 004 599 (8.30 am-8.30 pm seven days a week), or Novartis Pharmaceuticals on 1800 671 203
Media contact: Kay McNiece, TGA Media Adviser, 0412 132 585
Hat tip: Benedict.
Lumiracoxib, marketed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals under the brand name of Prexige, is a Cox 2 inhibitor belonging to the group of medicines known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS).
Lumiracoxib was first approved in Australia in July 2004 but has only recently become widely used since being listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) in 2006. According to the TGA's Principal Medical Adviser, Dr Rohan Hammett, as of 10th August 2007 the TGA had received 8 reports of serious liver adverse reactions to the drug, including two deaths and two liver transplants.
"The TGA and its expert advisory committee, the Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee (ADRAC), have urgently investigated these reports. ADRAC has today recommended the cancellation of the registration of Lumiracoxib due to the severity of the reported side effects associated with this drug," Dr Hammett said.
"The TGA has taken this advice to cancel the registration of Lumiracoxib in order to prevent further cases of severe liver damage. "It seems that the longer people are on the medicine, the greater the chance of liver injury. The TGA is, therefore, advising people to stop taking the Lumiracoxib immediately and to discuss alternative treatments with their doctor," Dr Hammett said.
Approximately 60 000 people take Lumiracoxib in Australia which is typically prescribed for: symptomatic relief in the treatment of osteoarthritis, relief of acute pain, including post-operative pain and pain related to dental procedures and relief of pain due to primary dysmenorrhoea.
Further information can be obtained by contacting the TGA Info Line on 1800 004 599 (8.30 am-8.30 pm seven days a week), or Novartis Pharmaceuticals on 1800 671 203
Media contact: Kay McNiece, TGA Media Adviser, 0412 132 585
Hat tip: Benedict.
