GSK, the UK’s largest pharmaceutical company, has accused the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) of failing to do enough to recognise the value of new medicines and encourage innovation in the pharmaceutical sector. GSK’s voiced its concerns after its Benlysta belimumab product was not approved for the treatment of lupus. Lupus is an incurable autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks healthy tissue instead of fighting disease, damaging organs such as the heart and kidneys.
GSK said that the system for approving new drugs had to change. It said: “ ”The failure to recognise and adopt innovative new medicines continues to be a systemic problem in the UK … The UK is a world leader in the research, development and manufacture of medicines, but is one of the slowest to enable patients to have access to innovative new treatments. This is a situation that must be addressed.”
In response, NICE has said that it had to recognise how new products added to the existing care already available, and if they cost a lot and did not add much in terms of improvement, that would affect whether they would be promoted. NICE had consulted with patients and doctors and concluded that the cost did not justify the relative improvements made compared to current standard care available.
