England’s cost effectiveness watchdog NICE can shift away from its current default of starting with a ‘no’ to new drugs, and then negotiating a deal with pharma companies – but requires greater co-operation from industry, according to its chief executive.
Speaking at the international pharma conference eyeforpharma Barcelona last week, NICE’s chief executive Sir Andrew Dillon struck a conciliatory note with his audience, making it clear he understood the sector’s need to provide shareholders with a return on investment on novel medicines.
However, he cautioned that industry, healthcare payers and health technology assessment (HTA) authorities like NICE needed to do more to achieve ‘alignment’ on value, evidence and price for the sake of patients.