Eisai slams NICE ‘betrayal’

Eisai, the license holder of Alzheimer’s disease treatment Aricept (donepezil hydrochloride), has criticised the publication of guidelines on the management of dementia by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the Social Care Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (SCIE) as a “wasted opportunity”.

Together with promotion partners Pfizer, Eisai has reported that the institute has overlooked the worries of medical experts, patient groups and carers that have criticised its decision limiting the delivery of Alzheimer’s drugs available on the NHS, making it dependent on which stage of the disease the patient is in.

Dr Paul Hooper, managing director of Eisai, criticised the decision as one that is “fundamentally flawed”.

“We believe that NICE’s ruling on the cost-effectiveness of the treatments for mild Alzheimer’s disease in its health technology appraisal has fatally undermined the work and recommendations of the Dementia Guidelines Group,” he said.

He added that in not delaying its publication of its appraisal, that the institute had rejected the interests of medical professionals, carers and patients with the disease.

Earlier this week, NICE published its guidance on dementia that contained detailed recommendations regarding the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, in addition to guidance regarding dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal, vascular, mixed and other types of dementia.