NHS England (NHSE) has announced that a new multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment will cut hospital time for patients by 90% and free up time for clinicians.
The treatment in question is the drug ocrelizumab, which is sold as Ocrevus by Roche. Around 9,000 patients already take the drug across England in its intravenous infusion form, which is a process that can take up to four hours.
NHSE will become one of the first health systems in the world, however, to offer the drug via an injection that takes only 10 minutes, after it confirmed stocks are set to be available in the coming weeks. The frequency or efficacy of treatment is not affected by taking the drug through an injection.
“Ocrelizumab has represented a huge advance in care in recent years as the first drug able to change the course of the disease, and we hope this innovative and speedier option will now make another significant difference in improving patients’ quality of life and help thousands avoid longer stints in hospital for treatment,” said NHSE’s national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis.
The news comes after the European Commission approved the use of ocrelizumab as a biannual injection for MS patients across the continent, as well as the green light from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
The drug was approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for relapsing remitting MS in 2018, with a further approval for primary progression MS coming a year later.
“We welcome the decision to license injections as a new method of delivering ocrelizumab,” said Ceri Smith, policy head at the MS Society. “Over 150,000 people live with MS in the UK, and many of them rely on disease modifying treatments like ocrelizumab to help reduce MS relapses.”
“This method will expand the choices available to many MS patients and will mean more people can receive this treatment in a way that suits them.”
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