New RA drug tocilizumab now available in Scotland

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) announced on 18 January 2010, that the new drug tocilizumab (RoActemra) will be available on the NHS in Scotland for people with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for whom other treatments – disease modifying anti rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) or anti-TNFs (tumour necrosis factor-antagonists) – have not worked.

Arthritis Care chief executive and vice president of the European League against Rheumatism (EULAR), Neil Betteridge, said: ‘We’re delighted that the SMC has taken the decision to make tocilizumab available on the NHS in Scotland. There are a number of treatments for RA currently available but they simply don’t work for everyone. There are people who are most severely affected by this debilitating condition who have been failed by existing treatments. It’s for those people living in intense pain, unable to work and struggling even to walk, that tocilizumab could provide real hope.

'Having access to the widest range of treatment options gives someone with RA the best chance of keeping this painful and potentially disabling disease under control. We hope that a decision to make tocilizumab available south of the border to people with RA who really need it, will follow soon.’

The situation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the body responsible for deciding which new treatments are used by the NHS in England and Wales, is currently in the process of assessing whether tocilizumab should be made available. A final decision is expected later this year. Northern Ireland usually follows NICE’s guidance once it has been issued.

As part of their decision-making process, NICE issued draft guidance for consultation on 16 December 2009, including a request for more information from the drug’s maker Roche.

‘NICE’s independent appraisal committee has asked Roche, the manufacturer of tocilizumab (RoActemra), a new treatment for moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis, for additional information on its product. The committee is minded not to recommend the use of the drug but the additional information it has asked for could result in the final guidance being positive. This draft guidance has been issued for consultation: NICE has not yet issued final guidance to the NHS.’

If you would like to talk to someone about your arthritis, call the Arthritis Care Helpline on freephone 0808 800 4050 Monday - Friday (10am - 4pm) for confidential, practical and emotional support. If you have RA and think this treatment may be of benefit to you, you should seek advice from your rheumatologist.

For more information

• see the full guidance from the Scottish Medicines Consortium
• read the latest draft guidance from NICE 
• find out more about rheumatoid arthritis