The world's largest pharmaceutical company will next month square off with NICE, the UK government's drug utilization body, in an unprecedented showdown in the High Court.
The case, lodged by American drugs giant Pfizer and its Aricept marketing partner Eisai of Japan, marks the first time that the Government's National Institute for Clinical Health and Excellence, the entity that recommends whether drugs should be reimbursed by the NHS, has been put in the dock.
"You could look at this as a line in the sand," said a Pfizer spokesman.
"This goes beyond a purely financial or commercial objective. This is about NICE itself and how they operate."
In terms of worldwide sales the UK is minute, representing just over 3 per cent of annual turnover. But for Pfizer this case is about more than the denial of one Alzheimers' drug. "This has some pretty wide implications. We disagree with their process and with their decision to effectively ban these treatments," said the Pfizer spokesman.
Last week, the High Court set 25 June for the start of a four-day judicial review. But the worry for drug companies is that NICE's value-for-money approach could be exported to other countries.
More at The Independent
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