Breakthrough Alzheimer's Drugs Too Pricey for UK's National Health Service
PiMuNu writes:
From:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq8zxx9kk0ko
Two breakthrough Alzheimer's drugs have been deemed far too expensive, for too little benefit, to be offered on the NHS. The medicines are the first to slow the disease, which may give people extra time living independently.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) concluded they were a poor use of taxpayers' money and said funding them could lead to other services being cut. Campaigners say it is a disappointment, but other dementia experts have also supported the decision.
The two drugs, donanemab and lecanemab, both help the body clear a gungy protein that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.
[...] The official price in the US is 20,000-25,000 per patient per year. What the NHS would pay is confidential.
Around 70,000 people in England with mild dementia would have been eligible, potentially putting the bill in the region of 1.5bn a year for the drugs alone.
NHS resources, including infusing the drugs every two-to-four weeks and frequent brain scans to manage dangerous side effects, would also massively ramp up the cost.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.