NICE to develop guidance on new treatments

Topics including new treatments for breast and lung cancer, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, obesity and rheumatoid arthritis, have been referred to NICE by the Secretary of State for Health in line with the national priorities that have been established for the NHS.

The Department of Health and the Welsh Assembly Government have referred two clinical guidelines on rheumatoid arthritis in adults and diarrhoea and vomiting in children, and one rapid clinical guideline on acutely ill patients in hospital. In addition, five technologies will be appraised as part of NICE’s rapid single technology appraisal (STA) programme, as follows: bevacizumab for non-small cell lung cancer, certolizumab pegol for rheumatoid arthritis, infliximab for ulcerative colitis, lapatinib for advanced or metastatic breast cancer, and rimonabant for the treatment of obese and overweight patients.

Afurther three technologies will be appraised as part of NICE’s multiple technology appraisal (MTA) programme: endovascular stents for abdominal aortic aneurysms, machine versus cold (static) storage of donated kidneys, and spinal cord stimulation for chronic pain.

NICE has also been asked to appraise adalimumab for moderate to severely active Crohn’s disease. It has not yet been confirmed whether this will be appraised as part of the Institute’s MTA or STA programmes.

Commenting on the referrals, Andrew Dillon, chief executive of NICE said: “We are keen to begin developing guidance that will help to inform decisions about treatment and healthcare in these areas as soon as possible and we will publish details of the timetables for these topics on our website shortly.”