ABPI attacks NICE Alzheimer’s decision

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has criticised the decision by the National Institute for Clinical and Health Excellence (NICE) for rejecting appeals against the institute’s decision concerning the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

NICE has said that it will not support the prescription of anti-dementia drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer’s in its early-stages.

Nigel Brooksby, president of the ABPI, said: “It is flying in the face of commonsense to make patients wait until their condition deteriorates before treating them and it also disregards the basic humanity of a situation where patients who could benefit from a medicine are also denied it.”

He added that the decision would result in difficulties for pharmaceutical companies to validate the vast costs necessary for the research and development of drugs for the treatment of conditions for which much discovery is yet to be made, such as Alzheimer’s.

In March last year, NICE recommended that, for cost reasons, donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine should not be used to treat mild to moderate suffering of Alzheimer’s, with memantime not to be recommended for the treatment of moderate to severe cases.

NICE this week released its final guidance on the prescription of these anti-dementia drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.