NICE Appeal Panel upholds Roche’s appeal

25/01/17

Today a NICE Appeal Panel published its decision to uphold the appeal of Roche Products Ltd against NICE’s advice on the use of pirfenidone in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The challenged advice limited pirfenidone to a subgroup of the population, leaving sufferers at an earlier stage of the disease with no access to the medicine. The Panel found “that NICE has failed to act fairly and that the recommendation is unreasonable in the light of the evidence submitted to NICE” (para 44).

The appeal decision is here.