At a recent Pharmaceutical Pricing and Market Access Outlook meeting organized by Health Network Communications in London, Dr Longson said the new service is a major strategic development for the institute and can provide companies a useful and effective scientific advice service.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recently completed a successful pilot program for the proposed service with Novartis involving a potential psoriasis treatment currently in development at the company. The service is also expected to help companies in their regulatory discussions about new products with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the European Medicines Agency.
The NICE board will need to be convinced of the service’s viability, taking into account companies’s need for such a service, the costs involved and the recovery of the incurred costs by NICE.
However, director of government affairs and public policy for Europe at Baxter, Anne-Toni Rogers, said that the service can place smaller firms at a disadvantage because the standards it establishes may prove to be too high. Ms Rogers also expressed similar concerns about government/manufacturer risk-sharing agreements for new treatments whose therapeutic benefits are uncertain at launch.