Four treatments for arthritis in children get backing from NICE

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellences (NICE), the medicines watchdog for England and Wales, today published draft guidance provisionally recommending four drugs for treating a form of arthritis in children and young people.

The recommendation is for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (NYSE: BMY) Orencia (abatacept), AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) Humira (adalimumab), Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) Enbrel (etanercept) and Roche’s (ROG: SIX) RoActemra (tocilizumab), within their marketing authorizations, as options for treating juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

Affecting around 10,000 children and young people in the UK, JIA describes a group of conditions that involve joint inflammation which lasts for more than 6 weeks in people under 16 years of age.

The four drugs that are the subject of this draft guidance belong to a group of drugs called disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) which aim to reduce or halt joint damage by reducing or stopping disease activity. They are all licensed for use where previous treatment has been associated with an inadequate response or with intolerance.

Early treatment can help improve long-term outcomes

“Juvenile idiopathic arthritis is a progressive degenerative condition that not only affects the quality of life of the child or young person with the disease, but can also affect the quality of life of their carers and family. The Committee heard there is a link between the length of time the disease remains uncontrolled and the amount of joint damage and growth impairment. They also heard that being able to access effective treatments at an early stage of the disease can help improve long-term outcomes. We are therefore pleased to be able to recommend these drugs as options for children and young people with juvenile idiopathic arthritis in today’s draft guidance,” commented Carole Longson, NICE Health Technology Evaluation Centre director.

The draft guidance states that when more than one drug is suitable, treatment should be started with the least expensive drug, taking into account administration costs, the dose needed and the product cost per dose.

The draft guidance is now with consultees, who have the opportunity to appeal against it. Once NICE issues its final guidance on a technology, it replaces local recommendations across the country.