AbbVie’s Duodopa approved for routine commissioning by NHS England

AbbVie has welcomed NHS England's decision to approve the prescription of its Parkinson's disease therapy Duodopa through a new commissioning policy.

For the first time, doctors in England will be able to prescribe the treatment as an option for people with advanced Parkinson's through the specialised commissioning prioritisation process.

It prioritises drugs and treatments that NHS England will fund at specialist centres only, and means that Duodopa – which was previously only available on the NHS through individual funding requests for each patient – will become much more accessible.

Duodopa is widely available in most European countries and can be an effective option in cases where Parkinson's symptoms have advanced and become unmanageable by other therapies.

Matt Regan, UK general manager at AbbVie, said: "There should now be consistent access to this medicine and we urge the NHS to ensure the policy is implemented quickly and smoothly."

This comes after the company's product Humira was recently recommended for European approval as a treatment for hidradenitis suppurativa.