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Tuesday, March 1 2005
Draft recommendations on medicines to treat Alzheimer’s disease,
published today by NICE, are a devastating blow to patients and
will act as a significant deterrent to companies undertaking further
research in this area, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical
Industry (ABPI) said today.
They also put the UK out of step with the rest of Europe, where
the medicines are available in all countries where they have a licence.
“NICE’s draft recommendations put small cost savings before
the benefit that these medicines can bring to so many people who
have Alzheimer’s - and to their family, friends and carers,”
said Dr Richard Barker, Director General of the ABPI.
“It also sends a discouraging message to pharmaceutical companies
that are putting major research work into discovering new, innovative
medicines to help people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of
dementia. How can companies justify investing huge sums in research
and development – it costs on average about £550 million
to develop a new medicine – if such decisions can be made to
withhold medicines from patients despite their benefits?
“We call upon NICE to reconsider this heartless and damaging
decision in the interests of both current patients
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