Eisai announces date of judicial review on Alzheimer’s medication

Eisai has announced that it has been granted its request by the High Court for the fast-tracking of a judicial review regarding the use of anti-dementia medications on the NHS in patients with mild cases of Alzheimer’s disease.

The review will begin on June 25th 2007, with the court expecting proceedings to take four days. It will examine the procedure by which the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) opted to prevent the use of such medications on the NHS in this patient group.

Previously, the High Court had given permission for such a review on the grounds of procedural deficiencies, irrationality and discrimination on the part of NICE.

Dr Paul Hooper, managing director of Eisai, said: “It is vital to have the judicial review heard as soon as possible and we are delighted to now be one step closer to concluding this process.”

He added that patients in the early milder stages of Alzheimer’s are entitled to treatment as soon as possible, rather than being forced to wait until the disease has progressed, noting that deterioration in patients cannot be reversed.

In November 2006, Eisai, the license holder of Aricept (donepezil hydrochloride), described the decision to make the delivery of this and similar drugs dependent on the stage of Alzheimer’s disease as being “fundamentally flawed”.