NHS England agrees to funding Ilaris for children with PFS

NHS England said on Saturday that it will fund a life-changing treatment for people with rare conditions causing repeated bouts of fever, joint pain and swelling.

Periodic fever syndromes (PFS) are a group of rare genetic conditions where the person’s immune system overreacts, resulting in frequent inflammation ‘flares’, involving chest or joint pains, headaches, mouth ulcers and skin rash.

On  World Rare Diseases Day (Saturday February 29) the National Health Service (NHS) confirmed a deal has been struck for canakinumab, which modifies the immune system, turning off the inflammation process, significantly reducing the number of ‘flares’ children and adults experience.

The drug, which is approved in a number of indications, is marketed by Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) under the trade name Ilaris and generated global sales for the company of $671 million in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 21%.