Roche calls for talks after NICE rejects drug for progressive MS
Pharmaphorum Media Limited | September 17, 2018
Roche has said it will continue with talks with UK health officials to bring its multiple sclerosis drug Ocrevus to NHS patients with the primary progressive disease after NICE said it was not cost-effective in final draft guidance. Primary progressive MS differs from the relapsing form of the disease, as symptoms gradually get worse over time, instead of occurring in sudden flare-ups. MS affects over 100,000 people in the UK and one in eight people with MS are diagnosed with the primary progressive form, meaning around 625 people a year could benefit from Ocrevus. Ocrevus is the first drug that has been shown to slow progression of this form of the disease – but NICE has said evidence about the size and duration of the effect was unclear.