NICE to assess wider impact of new drugs

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is to broaden its assessment of potential new drug treatments.

Responsible for deciding on the use of drugs administered by the UK's NHS, the regulator has said it will now look at the "wider societal impact" of therapies. This means the ability to enable patients to return to work earlier than traditional treatments could be considered alongside the clinical cost-effectiveness.

Pharmaceutical companies have complained NICE is unfair in its restriction of certain drugs, with the UK approving fewer new products than the rest of Europe and the US. 

The new proposals were unveiled in a consultation document yesterday (March 27th) and will be implemented in autumn if approved.

In an interview with Reuters, NICE chief executive Andrew Dillon said the new framework "has the potential for increasing the number of positive appraisals that NICE produces, but that is only going to happen if companies offer the very best price to the NHS."