Arthritis ‘Wonder Drug’ Joy

By EMILY COOK

THOUSANDS of arthritis sufferers yesterday won the right to get the smart drug MabThera free on the NHS.

The surprise decision comes less than three weeks after the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) opposed free treatment with another drug, Orencia, for people with rheumatoid arthritis.

Neil Betteridge, of Arthritis Care, said: “It’s a triumph. Now there is no excuse for denying this drug.”

Yesterday Nice ruled that MabThera was cost effective for patients in England and Wales who have not responded to other therapies.

Rheumatoid arthritis, which affects 400,000 in the UK, occurs when the immune system attacks joints, damaging bone and cartilage. It costs up to pounds 1.2billion a year in England for treatment and sick days.

MabThera, costing pounds 4,657 per patient each year, is almost half as expensive as other therapies.

Trials showed it reduced symptoms by more than 50 per cent for more than a third of patients.

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