Basilea’s eczema drug wins acceptance from Scottish Medicines Consortium

Switzerland-based Basilea Pharmaceutica has announced that the Scottish Medicines Consortium has accepted Toctino for use within National Health Service Scotland for the treatment of adults with severe chronic hand eczema unresponsive to potent topical corticosteroids.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) provides advice to National Health Service (NHS) boards and associated committees in Scotland regarding financial support of all newly licensed medicines. The SMC advice takes into account clinical data (efficacy and safety) as well as cost effectiveness.

Toctino is a once-daily oral therapy for the treatment of adults that is given for 12 to 24 weeks, depending on patient response. In the six-month post-treatment observation in the pivotal Phase III clinical trials, patients who responded to Toctino experienced long periods free from relapse and improved patient satisfaction, said Basilea.

Toctino is the only therapy approved for severe chronic hand eczema unresponsive to potent topical corticosteroids, the company added.

Toctino has been launched in Denmark, Germany and the UK and has received marketing authorization in Finland and France. It has also been recommended for approval in six additional EU member states and is under regulatory review in Canada and Switzerland.

Hans Rohde, chief commercial officer of Basilea Pharmaceutica, said: With this decision, the SMC has confirmed that Toctino is both efficacious and cost effective. We look forward to working with the NHS boards in Scotland such that Toctino is available for patients as soon as possible.