Scottish NHS declines Schering-Plough treatments
This article was originally published in Scrip
Schering-Plough has had an unsuccessful start to the month at the hands of the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), which has declined two submissions for use of the company's ulcerative colitis and progressive multiple myeloma treatments in the Scottish NHS.
Schering-Plough's Remicade (infliximab), for the treatment of moderate to severe active ulcerative colitis in patients who do not respond well to conventional therapy, was declined for use as the manufacturer did not present a "sufficiently robust" economic case, the SMC said.
The company also suffered a disappointment when a resubmission for its oncology drug, Caelyx (pegylated liposomal doxorubicin), when used in combination with Ortho Biotech's Velcade (bortezomib), was also declined. The SMC said Caelyx plus bortezomib was not recommended because the manufacturer had not presented a strong enough economic analysis. Caelyx plus bortezomib was originally submitted in September last year, but was declined for the same reasons.
success
Two companies which did succeed in gaining recommendations for use of their drugs in the Scottish NHS were Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi-Aventis.
Ferring's endocrine treatment Glypressin solution (terlipressin acetate) – for the treatment of bleeding oesophageal varices – was accepted for use in patients who found terlipressin an appropriate therapy choice. The terlipressin acetate 0.12mg/ml solution for injection also replaces a previous formulation which required reconstitution, the SMC said. This involves a "modest cost increase" to the Scottish NHS, it added.
Sanofi-Aventis's low molecular weight heparin Clexane (enoxaparin), indicated for the treatment of myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation (STEMI), was also accepted after it showed a reduction in death or non-fatal MI compared to unfractionated heparin.