Shire joins Pfizer & Eisai to challenge NICE’s ruling

After Pfizer and Eisai, now a third drug making company Shire on Friday announced that it would legally challenge the ruling of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) that restrict the use of Alzheimer's drugs in the National Health Service.

UK’s Shire said that it will join hands with America’s Pfizer and Japan’s Eisai to seek a judicial review of the process followed by UK’s Watchdog in reaching its decision.

The move came after NICE, a special health authority of the National Health Service that decides which medicines are offered in the NHS in England and Wales, refused to reveal those vital documents on the basis of which it reached a conclusion to ban the medication.

It concluded in its ruling that people suffering with mild and severe Alzheimer's disease should not be prescribed Pfizer and Eisai's Aricept, an oral medication used to treat Alzheimer's disease, on the NHS. The agency also restricted the use of Novartis's Exelon and Shire's Reminyl, a drug also used for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia.

Ina statement yesterday, Paul Hooper, managing director of Eisai said, “A judicial review is now the only option remaining to us to ensure that NICE reconsiders how it arrived at such flawed conclusions.”

This is the first time the UK’s health agency facing such legal action. A number of people including doctors, patients, caretakers and charities on Friday demonstrated against the ban.

In support of Eisai’s decision to challenge the agency, John Freeman, managing director of Shire's UK commercial operation, said, "Shire completely agrees with the grounds and objectives behind Eisai's proposed challenge."

However, the drug companies also facing criticism from the supporters of the agency and the ban as well. Speaking in defence of the health agency’s decision to ban the medication, a health economist and a Labour MP yesterday indicted the drug companies of sabotaging NICE.

Alan Maynard, professor of health economics at the University of York described the control of medication in healthcare as an unavoidable event. According to him, NICE had always made significant decisions in rejecting the use of drugs with very little benefit including Avastin for bowel cancer and the Alzheimer's drugs.

"Industry has had high profits and high prices but has been very disappointing over the last several years bringing new treatments to market that are cost effective, and now they are trying to undermine Nice," he said.

The restrictions, however, are due to take effect next week and the drug companies intend that move to be delayed so they can get enough time for lawsuit proceeding.