Shire criticises Alzheimer’s guidance

Biopharmaceutical company Shire has criticised the fact that patients with mild Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) must be diagnosed using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE).

The company has suggested that while clinicians are now allowed “some discretion” regarding the use of the MMSE following the production of new guidance by NICE, it was “disappointed” with the overall message of the direction.

“Clinicians have been given some discretion in the revised guidance concerning sole reliance on the MMSE for diagnosing the severity of AD in patients with learning, language, communication or sensory disabilities, and this is to be welcomed,” said Dr Ian Howe, medical director of Shire.

Dr Howe added that according to clinicians, continued reliance on the MMSE for diagnosing patients with mild AD is “problematic”.

The MMSE’s reliability is affected by a number of factors that characterise mild AD, Dr Peter Passmore, geriatrician at Queens University Belfast, said.

Currently Shire markets Reminyl XL in the UK and Republic of Ireland, which according to its website is used for “symptomatic treatment of mild to moderately severe dementia of the Alzheimer type”.