Why two Alzheimer's drugs were rejected for use on the NHS
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has rejected two Alzheimer's drugs, Donanemab and Lecanemab, for use on the NHS.
Nice determined that the drugs offer only 'modest benefits at best,' delaying disease progression by four to six months in early stages.
The decision was based on the drugs' limited benefits not justifying their high cost, estimated to be between £500 million and £1 billion annually for the NHS.
Donanemab and Lecanemab are targeted antibody drugs that work by clearing amyloid protein buildup in the brain to slow cognitive decline.
Scientists and doctors remain divided on the drugs' clinical significance, with some highlighting their potential while others raise concerns about the small benefits and serious side effects observed in trials.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Early signs of Parkinson's disease could be found in your ear
Researchers have developed a new system that could enable early detection of Parkinson's disease by analysing ear wax. The method identifies specific volatile organic compounds in sebum, the main ingredient of ear wax, which are altered in individuals with Parkinson's. Scientists swabbed the ear canals of 209 participants and identified four distinct compounds that serve as potential biomarkers for the condition. An artificial intelligence olfactory system was trained with this data, achieving 94 per cent accuracy in categorising samples from individuals with and without Parkinson's. This AI -powered system could serve as an inexpensive, first-line screening tool for Parkinson's, though further multi-centre research is needed.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Maintenance isn't sexy, but Farage on the other hand ...
There was an odd conjunction of stories in Thursday's papers as the European Space Agency declared its goal of establishing a 'plentiful habitat' for humans on Mars within 15 years, while the UK Government admitted that it had stopped trying to guess when trains will ever run on HS2, a project that began (check notes) 15 years ago. Perhaps by 2040, the visions will merge and passengers in London will be able to buy plentiful Mars bars as they wait for a cancelled train. But the past 15 years have not been wasted: they managed to move the departure boards at Euston and put them back again when people complained. One small step for man, one giant leap for Network Rail. Despite Britain's recent track record, Darren Jones bounced into the Commons to announce a new 10-year plan for infrastructure. It will cost £725 billion, so with the usual overshoot we can expect that to pass £2 trillion and involve three potholes being filled and a new light in the gents at Victoria. Yet the chief secretary to the Treasury was full of aspiration and ambition. He is fond of alliteration and promised to go 'further and faster' and act more 'effectively and efficiently' than the Tories. Tall, bespectacled, with a neatly parted hairstyle and a slightly unsettling grin (imagine him played by Mark Gatiss), Jones is not a man who lacks belief. Asked by Jerome Mayhew, a Norfolk Tory, how he could be confident of delivering better value than the last Labour government got under PFI (private finance initiative), he merely replied: 'I am usually confident in my abilities.' He is armed with a 'new online infrastructure pipeline' (not quite ready) and a new acronym: Nista, which stands for the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority. I noted that it was formed on April Fool's Day. 'That's a very shiny title,' sneered John Cooper, Tory MP for Dumfries and Galloway, who said it would be met with an 'eye-rolling sigh'. Jones replied that he had closed two bodies before creating it. 'So it's actually down one,' he said, flashing his fingers to show that he can count. A rare moment in infrastructure planning when a number falls. As more attacks flew in from Welsh and Scottish MPs, who felt they weren't getting enough of the pie, the suave chief secretary showed a touch of exasperation. 'You might want to be a little more grateful,' Jones told David Chadwick, a Lib Dem from Brecon. Generally, though, he was tiggerish, not only about building things but keeping them from falling down. 'Maintenance isn't sexy,' he said, 'but it's really important.' Maintaining a Labour government especially. Speaking of sexy, Richard Tice had risen during the business statement earlier to cry 'phwoar' about his party leader. This is the weekly session when MPs can ask for a debate on any topic under the sun and the Government will pretend (or not) that it cares. Its purpose is to generate tweets and press releases for MPs to send to their local papers about whatever is dominating their postbag. The Skegness Standard will note, therefore, that of all the subjects that its Reform MP could have brought up, he chose Nigel Farage being named Britain's sexiest male politician in a poll for an infidelity dating website. Tice asked Lucy Powell, the leader of the House, to join him in congratulating Farage on being the philanderers' pin-up and also Angela Rayner, who won the women's category. 'Does she recommend that they have dinner together?' he asked. Powell pursed her lips and replied that, tempting offer though it was, she suspected that the Deputy Prime Minister would be washing her hair every night from here to eternity. There's more chance of getting a bypass built on time.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
UK ‘behind curve' on assisted dying among progressive nations, says Kim Leadbeater
The UK is 'behind the curve' on assisted dying among progressive nations, the bill's sponsor Kim Leadbeater has said on the eve of one of the most consequential votes for social change in England and Wales. The Labour MP told the Guardian that the circumstances may never be right again to pass such a bill, which would legalise assisted dying in England and Wales for those terminally ill with less than six months to live, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel of experts. Her intervention came amid more warnings about the safeguards in the bill, including from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and disability activists – who will protest outside parliament on Friday at the final vote in the Commons. Opponents believe the bill will not sufficiently protect those with mental illness or disability or from coercion by abusers. On Thursday, another leading Labour MP, Dan Carden, told the Guardian he would vote against the bill and the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, urged her MPs to oppose it. Keir Starmer has reiterated his own support for the bill – but on Thursday night there was no firm commitment from No 10 that the prime minister would be present to vote. 'We are behind the curve,' Leadbeater told the Guardian. 'We've got the law going through the Isle of Man. We've got Jersey. We've got France. We've got various American states, Colorado recently. 'Other countries are looking at us and saying, goodness me, why are you not doing what is essentially the right thing to do? And if we don't do it now, we could be looking at another 10 years. We cannot put families through another 10 years of that.' The MP for Spen Valley said circumstances may never allow such a change for another generation – given the numbers of progressive MPs in the parliament. 'This is surely everything modern parliamentarians should believe in: big societal change for the people that need it,' she said. 'Now is the time.' Should the bill pass, Leadbeater said it would be accessible to those with a terminal illness by the end of the parliament – with a four-year implementation period. 'I will certainly be putting pressure on to commence sooner than that if it can be done safely and effectively,' she said 'But ultimately it's about it being safe rather than rushing it through.' At least 19 MPs have publicly said they will switch sides from either abstaining or backing the bill to voting against. Since the bill was last voted on, there has been a major change to the legislation – the removal of a high court judge to sign off each case, replaced by a panel of experts including a psychiatrist, a social worker and senior lawyer. Proponents of the bill claimed they were confident it will pass again on Friday, having previously passed with a majority of 55. But further high-profile switchers or even significant interventions in the chamber on Friday could be critical and those who oppose the bill said they believe there was still significant traffic in their direction. Campaigners on both sides said that MPs would be going to extraordinary lengths to make the vote – returning from hospital bedsides and long-haul trips. Carden, who leads the Blue Labour group of MPs, told the Guardian he would vote against, having previously abstained. 'Legalising assisted suicide will normalise the choice of death over life, care, respect and love,' the MP for Liverpool Walton said. 'I draw on my own family experience, caring for my dad who died from lung cancer three years ago. 'I genuinely fear the legislation will take us in the wrong direction. The values of family, social bonds, responsibilities, time and community will be diminished, with isolation, atomisation and individualism winning again.' Those who have switched from previously supporting the bill to voting against include the Conservative former minister George Freeman, the Lib Dem work and pensions spokesperson, Steve Darling, and Labour MPs Karl Turner, Kanishka Narayan and Jonathan Hinder. But there have been some who have moved to vote in favour, including the Ipswich Labour MP Jack Abbott, who voted against in November but switched to support having been on the bill's scrutiny committee, saying he was now convinced the safeguards were robust. A YouGov poll on the eve of the vote found support for assisted dying has robust support among the UK public – 75% believe that assisted dying should in principle be legal in some form in the UK, compared to 14% opposed. But there are significant divisions across different sections of society. In polling for the Muslim Council of Britain, British Muslims were overwhelmingly likely to oppose the bill. The poll found 70% of respondents said that if their local MP were to vote for the assisted suicide bill, it would make them less likely to vote for them at the next election. Badenoch urged Conservative MPs to vote against the bill, though it remains a free vote. 'I'm somebody who has been previously supportive of assisted suicide,' she said. 'This bill is a bad bill. It is not going to deliver. It has not been done properly. 'This is not how we should put through legislation like this. I don't believe that the NHS and other services are ready to carry out assisted suicide, so I'll be voting no, and I hope as many Conservative MPs as possible will be supporting me in that.' The Royal College of Psychiatrists issued another warning ahead of the vote, saying there were 'too many unanswered questions about the safeguarding of people with mental illness'. Should the bill pass on Friday, it will then go to the House of Lords. However, it is not expected peers will block its progress once the Commons has passed the bill, though it may be amended. The Labour peer Luciana Berger urged MPs to vote against the bill if they were unsure about safeguards, rather than assume further changes would be made in the Lords. 'Elected MPs should be clear that as it is a [private members bill], amendments are likely to be limited,' she posted on X. 'MPs must be satisfied that the Bill in front of them on Friday is fit for purpose.' The Labour peer Charlie Falconer is likely to take charge of the bill in the House of Lords. Falconer had submitted his own bill to the Lords prior to Leadbeater's – though he withdrew it when her bill was put to the Commons. Proponents of the bill hope it would receive royal assent by October, but there will be a four-year implementation period to allow the NHS, Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Justice to develop procedures and guidance. It is – as yet – unclear if the procedure would be available on the NHS or free at the point of use.
