Allergan’s Botox receives NICE backing as migraine therapy

Allergan has welcomed the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE's) decision to approve its drug Botox as a treatment for migraines.

The UK regulator has issued final guidance that will permit Botox to be prescribed via the NHS for the prevention of headaches among adults with chronic migraine who have not responded to at least three prior preventative treatments, and whose condition is appropriately managed for medication overuse.

It is the only botulinum toxin type A treatment to be authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency for this specification.

The news has been welcomed by the Migraine Trust, due to the lack of therapy options currently available for this patient demographic.

Dr Selwyn Ho, UK country manager at Allergan, said: "The evidence shows that Botox can provide significant benefit to patients with chronic migraine, helping to reduce the number of days disrupted by migraine or headache while improving their quality of life."

Earlier this month, the company was granted approval from the Scottish Medicines Consortium for the use of its implant-based eye disease therapy Ozurdex among Scottish NHS patients.