Pfizer’s Xiapex recommended for NHS use by SMC

Pfizer's innovative Dupuytren's contracture treatment Xiapex has been recommended for restricted use among NHS patients by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC).

The Scottish regulatory body has endorsed the collagenase clostridium histolyticum therapy for use as an alternative to limited fasciectomy after a resubmission by Pfizer that followed a rejection in August 2011.

Xiapex is the first licensed injectable treatment option indicated for the condition, which impairs patients' ability to move their hands due to an excessive build-up of collagen.

The drug has also received positive appraisals from commissioning bodies in the north-east of England and Wales.

Henry Orton, co-founder of the British Dupuytren's Society, said: "We welcome the SMC's decision to recommend collagenase clostridium histolyticum for NHS patients in Scotland, which will offer a long-awaited alternative to surgery in the treatment of this debilitating condition."

This comes after Pfizer's drug Inspra was approved in a new specification among chronic heart failure patients in the UK last month.