UK regulator declines Roche MS drug

Singapore - The UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence rejected Roche's OCREVUS (ocrelizumab) for provision to adults with primary progressive multiple sclerosis.

The treatment had gotten the go-ahead for some adults with relapsing-remitting MS in July.

But the regulator noted a lack of information on efficacy and costs in declining to recommend it in this case.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic condition that causes a degradation in a range of functions, including problems with vision, motion, perception and balance.

 Patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis--between 10% to 15% of all patients with the disease--have symptoms that get gradually worse, instead of the sudden attacks that characterize relapsing multiple sclerosis.

The drug got EU marketing authorization in January, leaving it to member states to decide whether to provide the treatment, which costs £4,790 (about $6,192) per 300 mg vial.

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