The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has given the green light to teriflunomide for relapsing-remitting MS.A pill for multiple sclerosis (MS) that spares patients from needing injections has been approved for use on the NHS.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has given the green light to teriflunomide (also called Aubagio) for relapsing-remitting MS, which is thought to account for about 85 per cent of all new cases of the disease.
Manufactured by Genzyme, the once-a-day anti-inflammatory means patients no longer have to turn to painful injections to prevent relapses. Side effects of injections can also include flu-like symptoms.
Nice said relapsing-remitting MS is a “chronic, disabling, neurological condition that, as it progresses, can be life-altering and has a substantial negative impact on quality of life and activities of daily living”.
This type of MS is usually defined as two “clinically significant” relapses in the previous two years, with patients experiencing remission of all or most of the symptoms after a relapse. It is MS that does not appear to be rapidly evolving or highly active.
Carole Longson, Nice health technology evaluation centre director, said: “Current treatments all need to be injected, and can be associated with unpleasant side-effects.
“As an oral treatment with a different side-effect profile, teriflunomide offers a new option for treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, which could have a substantial impact on quality of life for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.”
Nick Rijke, director for policy and research at the MS Society, said: “We’ve been waiting a long time for a tablet to be available for early stage MS, so this is excellent news.
“As well as making another valuable treatment available for people with MS, many people will be delighted to have the option of a tablet rather than regular injections, which can be difficult to manage.”
Amy Bowen, director of service development at the MS Trust, said: “MS treatments have come a long way in recent years and we’re moving into a new era where people with MS and their clinicians have more choice and a new alternative to injections.
“Having teriflunomide available as an effective, simple, oral treatment option, which only needs to be taken once daily, is an exciting development for people with MS.”
The cost of teriflunomide is €1,267 per 28-tablet pack, or €16,518 per patient, per year.
However, a discount has been agreed between the manufacturer and the UK Department of Health.