Tuesday, October 26, 2010

UK Minister confirms NICE will be sidelined in drug evaluation | InPharm

Minister confirms NICE will be sidelined in drug evaluation | InPharm: "A health minister has confirmed NICE will be “moved” from its current central role in health technology assessment to make way for value-based pricing of medicines.

Health Minister Lord Howe was speaking at a conference co-hosted by industry bodies the ABPI and the BIA on the future of innovation and drug research and development.

NICE has long been seen as a barrier to access by the pharma and biotech industries, and now the Conservatives have confirmed their plans to muzzle the clinical effectiveness watchdog.

NHS bodies are currently obliged to follow (or at least consider) NICE ‘guidance’ but the changes will mean its cost-effectiveness reports will in future be purely ‘advisory’.

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